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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY 
FOR TEACHERS 

Revised 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY 
FOR TEACHERS 



Revised 



EDWARD K. STRONG, Jr. 

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 
CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 




BALTIMORE, MD. 

WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 

1922 



u-B 







5l 



5T5 



Copyright, 1919, 

Copyright, 1920, 

Copyright, 1922, 

By 

Warwick & York, Inc. 



THE MAPLE PRESS - YORK PA 

©CU698351 

NOV 26 71 



w 



To My Father and Mother 



PREFACE 

Certain principles have been established as fundamental to 
good teaching. Theoretically, all psychologists are agreed that a 
course of study should proceed from the known to the unknown 
and from the concrete to the general; that students should learn 
by doing; that the problem or project method of teaching is 
superior to memorization of a textbook; that functional not 
faculty psychology should be taught; that individual differences 
in students should be taken into account; that a beginning course 
should be designed for the benefit of the great majority who 
never go farther; etc. 

The aim of this course is to meet these and other ideals of 
teaching in an introductory course of psychology designed pri- 
marily for the use of prospective teachers. Instead of beginning 
with the most uninteresting phases of psychology and those 
most unknown to students, the course takes up concrete experi- 
ences of everyday life, relates them to the problems of learning, 
individual differences, and influencing others, and so develops 
these topics. Each general principle is discovered by the student 
out of his own experience in solving specially organized problems. 
Only after he has done his best is he expected to refer to the text 
and by then the text is no longer basic but only supplementary, 
clearing up misunderstandings and broadening the whole view- 
point. Behavior as a whole is considered from the start; 
gradually it is subdivided and subdivided, so that finally such 
topics as ''memory" or ''attention" can be discussed without 
fixing in the mind of the student the idea that they are separate 
entities. And in general the course is prepared on the assump- 
tion that the majority of students are never going to specialize 
in psychology and should consequently be given the most interest- 
ing and useful facts and principles of psychology, regardless of 
whether or not they are usually reserved for graduate students. 

The course is conducted in a radically different way from that 
of prevailing courses. The student is immediately introduced to 
problems of behavior taken as a whole and only after he is fairly 
familiar with psychological procedure, terminology and point of 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

view is he given his psychological background. The even 
numbered lessons present problems to be solved and the odd num- 
bered lessons supply in a general way answers to the problems, 
together with a broader interpretation of the facts than the 
average student will discover for himself. For example, Lesson 
6 outlines the familiar mirror-drawing experiment. This is 
performed, say on Monday. That night the experiment is 
written up and handed in at the class-hour on Tuesday. That 
hour is devoted to a general discussion of what was discovered 
in the experiment on the learning process. At the close of the 
hour Section No. 3 is given the class containing Lessons 7 and 8. 
The class reads over Lesson 7 on Tuesday evening. At the next 
class-hour Lesson 8 is taken up in the laboratory in the same 
way as Lesson 6. Each topic is accordingly handled as follows : 
(1) The student performs an experiment illustrating the principle 
to be emphasized, (2) he solves the problem as best he can and 
hands in his report, (3) he has the benefit of a class discussion 
upon the subject at the next class-hour, (4) he reads over what 
the author has to say on the subject, (5) he receives back bis own 
corrected paper on the subject, (6) he reviews the subject later 
on. All class discussion is based upon the laboratory experi- 
ences, not upon the author's presentation of the subject. The 
latter is only a supplementary aid, to correct misunderstandings 
and to furnish the student a standard by which to check his own 
work. 

Individual differences are amply provided for in such a pro- 
cedure. The poor student obtains a concrete grasp of the main 
points of the course. The able and industrious student adds to 
this minimum a very much broader and more detailed under- 
standing of the whole subject. The rate of progression is such 
that even the ablest student realizes that he is not getting all 
that there is in the course. All are thereby stimulated in a way 
that is not true when the rate is slow enough to discuss thoroughly 
every detail mentioned in the text. 

The text is printed as a book or in the form of 23 booklets. 
The advantage of the booklets is that they prevent the student 
reading ahead. This is important as the odd numbered lessons 
contain the answers to most of the problems. Where students 
read ahead they lose the training resulting from working problems 
out for themselves. 



PREFACE IX 

So many have been of general inspiration and help in this work 
that space will not permit special mention of their services. 
Several who have used the text in its mimeographed form have 
aided in a very definite way in revising and clarifying sections. 
They are: Miss Kate Anthony, State Normal School, Cape 
Girardeau, Mo.; Professor C. M. Faithful, Tennessee College, 
Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Professor S. C. Garrison, George Peabody 
College for Teachers; Professor W. A. McCall, Teachers' College, 
Columbia University, and Professor J. Roemer, Sam Houston 
Normal Institute, Huntsville, Texas. Professor Y. Shoninger, 
George Peabody College for Teachers, helped me very consider- 
ably in writing up the description of a ''sight-spelling lesson." 
To all these I owe very much. But I owe most to my wife, for 
her constant encouragement and assistance in the preparation 

of this text. 

The present revision and expansion of the original text has been 
made in the light of suggestions received from many instructors 
who have written me on the subject. Their interest is very 
gratefully recognized. 

I desire also to express my appreciation for the courtesy of 
authors and pubUshers for permission to reproduce illustrations. 
I am indebted to The American Book Company for a figure from 
D. J. Hill's The Elements of Psychology; to Dr. S. A. Courtis and 
the Department of Education, University of Indiana, for a 
figure from the Second Indiana Educational Conference Report; 
to Dr. Courtis and The World Book Company, for figures from 
Standard Practice Tests; to President J. R. Angell and Henry Holt 
and Company for figures from Psychology; to Dr. J. D. Lickley and 
Longsmans, Green and Company, for a figure from The Nervous 
System; to Professor Wm. McDougall and John W. Luce Co. 
for special permission to quote from Social Psychology; to Harper 
& Bros, to quote from my The Psychology of Selling Life Insur- 
ance; to Professor W. B. Pillsbury and The Macmillan Company 
for a figure from Fundamentals of Psychology; to Professor E. L. 
Thorndike for figures and quotsitionshom Educational Psychology; 
to Dean C. H. Judd and Ginn & Co. to quote from Psychology 
of High School Subjects; and to Professor R. S. Woodworth and 
Henrv Holt & Co. to quote from Psychology. 

^ E. K. S. Jr. 



CONTENTS 

BOOK ONE 

Lesson Title Page 

1. What is Psychology? 1 

2. Components of Behavior 13 

3. Components of Behavior (Continued) 20 

4. How Does One Learn to Say the Alphabet? 29 

5. Some Facts Concerning the Learning Process as Obtained 

FROM THE Alphabet Experiment 33 

6. How Does One Improve in Mirror-drawing? 41 

7. General Characteristics of the Learning Process 45 

8. Relationship of Method, Attitude and Feeling to Learning 56 

9. Relationship of Method, Attitude and Feeling to Learning 

(Continued) 59 

10. How Does One Learn A Vocabulary? 70 

11. The Learning Process Involved in Committing to Memory a 

Vocabulary 73 

12. What ARE THE Laws OF Retention? ', . 84 

13. Retention (Continued) 89 

14. What Factors Affect the Strength of a Bond? 99 

15. Factors Affecting the Strength of a Bond (Continued) . . . 101 

16. How TO Remember 108 

17. How TO Remember (Continued) 113 

18. Summary of Lessons 1 to 17 127 

19. Measuring Differences of Performance among Individu- 

als — THE Average Deviation 135 

20. How Do Individuals Differ in Learning Mirror-drawing? . . 140 

21. Introduction to the General Subject of Individual Differ- 

ences 143 

22. How Do Different Groups of Individuals Differ with Respect 

to Learning Simple Arithmetical Combinations? 151 

23. The Three Causes of Individual Differences — Environment, 

Heredity, and Training 157 

24. The General Law as to How Individuals Differ 170 

25. The General Law as to How Individuals Differ (Continued) 173 

26. How Should Students be Graded? 188 

27. Methods of Grading Students 191 

28. Coefficient of Correlation 206 

29. The Correlation between Human Traits — Psychological 

Tests 213 

30. Summary of Lessons 19 to 29 226 

xi 



xii CONTENTS j 

BOOK TWO 

Lesson Title Page 

31. Why One Behaves as He Does 1 

32. Why One Behaves as He Does (Continued) 13 . 

33. Fundamental Individual Wants 15 

34. Fundamental Social Wants 31 

35. Fundamental Wants (Continued) 53 

36. Acquired Wants 54 

37. Man's Wants (Continued) 69 

38. How Difficulties are Solved . 70 

39. How Difficulties are Solved — Reasoning 73 

40. How TO Influence Others — Imitation 92 

41. How TO Influence Others — Suggestion 95 

42. How TO Influence Others — Motivation 110 

43. How TO Influence Others — Motivation (Continued) 115 

44. In What Sequence Should Material be Presented? 129 

45. In What Sequence Should Material be Presented? — Integra- 

tions 131 

46. What are Some of the Essentials of Good Drill Work .... 146 

47. What are Some of the Essentials of Good Drill Work (Con- 

tinued) - 151 

48. To What Extent Can Training Gained in One Situation in . 

Life be Utilized IN Another? 167 

49. Transfer of Training 171 

50. Review 189 

51. General Introduction to Some Physiological Aspects of Psy- 

chology 191 

52. Mechanism by Which Stimuli Stimulate One 196 

53. The Eye — A Mechanism by Which Stimuli Stimulate One . . 205 

54. How Does One Estimate Distance? 215 

55. Mechanism by Which Responses are Made 219 

56. How Does One Estimate Distance? (Continued) 227 

57. Mechanism of the Connecting System 231 

58. Mechanism of the Connecting System (Continued) 238 

Index 247 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY 

BOOK ONE 

LESSON 1 

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?! 

Some of you are doubtless familiar with the story from which 
the following incident is quoted. But it bears repeating. 

Sam had never told his love ; he was, in fact, sensitive about 
it. This meeting with the lady was by chance, and although it 
afforded exquisite moments, his heart was beating in an unaccus- 
tomed manner, and he was suffering from embarrassment, 
being at a loss, also, for subjects of conversation. It is, indeed, 
no easy matter to chat easily with a person, however lovely and 
beloved, who keeps her face turned the other way, maintains 
one foot in rapid and continuous motion through an arc seemingly 
perilous to her equilibrium, and confines her responses, both 
affirmative and negative, to "U-huh." 

Altogether, Sam was sufficiently nervous without any help 
from Penrod, and it was with pure horror that he heard his own 
name and MabePs shrieked upon the ambient air with viperish 
insinuations. 

"Sam-my and May-bul! Oh, Oh!'' 

Sam started violently. Mabel ceased to swing her foot, and 
both encamadined, looked up and down and everywhere for the 
invisible but well-known owner of that voice. It came again, in 
taunting mockery. 

"Sammy's mad, and I am glad. 
And I know what will please him, 
A bottle of wine to make him shine. 
And Mabel Rorebeck to squeeze him!" 

^ The attention of instructors is called to a booklet of instructions in which 
suggestions are made as to assignments, necessary laboratory material, and 
procedure in some of the experiments. 



2 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

"Fresh old thing!" said Miss Rorebeck, becoming articulate. 
And, unreasonably including Sam in her indignation, she tossed 
her head at him with an unmistakable effect of scorn. She 
began to walk away. 

''Well, Mabel," said Sam plaintively, following, "it ain't my 
fault. I didn't do anything. It's Penrod." 

"I don't care — " she began pettishly, when the viperish 
voice was again lifted. 

"Oh, oh, oh! 
Who's your beau? 
Guess I know : 

Mabel and Sammy, oh, oh, oh ! 
I caught you!" 

Then Mabel did one of those things which eternally perplex 
the slower sex. She deUberately made a face, not at the tree 
behind which Penrod was lurking but at the innocent and heart- 
wrung Sam. "You needn't come limpin' after me, Sam Wil- 
liams !" she said, though Sam was approaching upon two perfectly 
sound legs. And then she ran away at the top of her speed. 

"Run, nigger, run — " Penrod began inexcusably. But Sam 
cut the persecutions short at this point. Stung to fury, he 
charged upon the sheltering tree in the Schofields' yard.^ 

Why is it that this account is interesting to us? Why did 
Sam and Mabel enjoy being together? Why were they so nerv- 
ous and uneasy? Why did Penrod call out as he did? Why 
did Mabel get mad at Sam? Why did she run away? Why did 
Sam get mad? What happened when Sam reached Penrod? 

At this point some of my readers may stop and, with lifted 
eyebrows, question silently, ''Is this a game of twenty questions? 
And twenty foolish questions at that? Can this be psychology?" 

It is. All these questions are real psychological problems, 
quite as pertinent to the science of psychology as the dignified 
and dry-as-dust queries you doubtless expected. 

What then is psychology? 

In commencing any new course of study it is necessary to have 
some idea of what the whole thing is about. At the same time 

1 Booth Tarkington— Penrod and Sam, 1916, p. 220£f. 



-I 



1 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? 3 

it is extremely difficult to obtain a clear notion since most of the 
details are unknown to the beginner. It is only after one has 
experienced details that he is in a position to understand any 
summary of them. Consequently the following definition is 
just to aid the reader in orienting himself. Only toward the end 
of the course will he be prepared to grasp its full meaning. 

Psychology may best be defined as the science of behavior. 

There is the definition. The matters dealt with in the next ten 
sections will give some of the various fields included in its bounds. 

1. A crowd surrounded the automobile of Dr. John Linder 
yesterday, when the physician stopped at Glenmore and Vesta 
Avenues after a dog had dodged beneath the auto's wheels and 
had been killed. There were men and women in the throng and 
they seemed to think that the physician had not tried to avoid the 
dog. 

Dr. Linder endeavored to explain that the most expert of motor- 
ists could not have dodged the dog, which ran barking beside the 
wheels of his auto and finally slipped under them. The crowd 
muttered angrily about motorists who had no thought for human 
lives, let alone the life of a dog, and Dr. Linder, realizing that the 
crowd soon might become dangerous, tried to start his car. 

His action aroused several men in the crowd who had been 
working themselves into a fury, and one of them struck out at the 
doctor with his fist. The physician ducked, and reaching in his 
pocket, jerked out a glittering object of nickel which he thrust 
into his assailant's face, exclaiming: — 

"Stand off. Get back from this car. I'll shoot the first man 
who interferes with me." 

The man who had struck at the physician, with all the rest of 
the crowd, fell back hastily, and Dr. Linder, seizing the oppor- 
tunity, applied the power to his car and slipped away. John 
Cargill, a blacksmith of the neighborhood, noted the number of 
of the doctor's car, however, and hurried to the New Jersey 
Avenue Court where he got a summons for the physician, call- 
ing on him to show cause why he shouldn't be punished for 
violation of the Sullivan Law against carrying weapons. The 
physician had scarcely arrived at his home when the summons 
was served and he hurried back to court in his automobile. 

Cargill was present and Dr. Linder, after explaining the acci- 



4 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

dent to Magistrate Naumer, declared that Cargill had been 
particularly aggressive. 

"He had a mob at his back," said the doctor, "and I was really 
afraid they would attack me." 

"But your revolver?" questioned Magistrate Naumer. "Do 
you not know that under the present law you may not carry a 
weapon without a permit?" 

"Why, I only threatened the crowd with this," replied the 
physician as he pulling something from his pocket and snapped it 
into the Magistrate's face. There was a small report, and 
Magistrate Naumer clutched spasmodically at the desk in front 
of him. Then he burst into a laugh as he observed the glittering 
nickel cigar hghter which Dr. Linder held in his hand. 

Dr. Linder would not make a charge against Cargill, and the 
smith hurried out of the courtroom to the accompaniment of 
laughter in which every one joined.^ 

Why should a crowd become angry because a dog had been 
killed ? Would Cargill have become as angry if he had been alone 
as he did when surrounded by a crowd? Why did the crowd 
think Dr. Linder had a gun? Why did Cargill want the Doctor 
arrested? Why did the crowd in the courtroom all laugh at 
Cargill? Why have you also enjoyed CargilPs discomfiture? 

2. A frequent sight is that of little boys fighting. Why do 
they like to fight? Why does a woman want to stop this fight- 
ing? Why will nien pay half a million dollars to sit in the broiling 
sun and see a prize fight? 

3. Consider any advertisement before you. What situation is 
depicted? Does it in any way express your feelings? Could the 
advertisement be changed so that it would present a situation 
that would make you really want the commodity advertised? 

4. Consider the following cases : — 

(1) A college professor discovers that a wealthy old bach- 
elor keeps a large amount of money hidden in his house. After 
weeks of clever work he discovers where this money is kept and 
finally obtains a pass key. One night he enters the house, 
secures the money and on being discovered by the old man, 
kills him. 

1 New York Times, 1911. 



1 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? 5 

(2) A young man by the name of Black from a prominent 
family is engaged to marry Miss Smith. Mr. Jones, although 
knowing of the engagement, deliberately makes love to Miss 
Smith and eventually supplants Black. When Black discovers 
the fact, in a fury of rage, he kills Jones. 

(3) C is attacked by a burglar in his own home and after a 
struggle kills the burglar. 

(4) D recklessly drives his auto through the streets of a 
village and kills a young boy. 

(5) E attacks two little boys in the woods and after torturing 
them for some time, finally cuts one of them to pieces with a razor. 

In these five cases a man has killed another human being. 
Each is a murderer. Why shouldn't all be hanged for their crime ? 
Your answer, of course, is that the circumstances are different. 
Can we conclude that the five men are different sorts of men on 
the basis of the circumstances which are presented? How can 
we evaluate their conduct? in terms of their action, or in terms 
of the situations which confronted them, or in terms of both 
situation and response? 

5. All respectable school teachers spend some time every 
year condemning prize fights, bull fights, gambling, drinking, etc. 
Especially is this true of women teachers. Yet two of my ac- 
quaintances when visiting the exposition at San Diego several 
years ago, rode down to Tia Juana, in Mexico, and very much 
enjoyed a prize fight, lost a quarter at each of the gambling 
tables in the "joint" there, and afterwards loudly berated their 
fate because they arrived too late for the bull -fight. Is it con- 
ceivable that the difference in the situations which confront 
them at home, in the school, or at Tia Juana, is responsible for 
strong condemnation of a prize fight in one place and attendance 
at and enjoyment of one in another place? 

Do you think it possible to set down all the details making up 
the situation which confronts one and then to record the response 
made to this complex situation? If we knew all the details 
would we be able to prophesy what a person would do? Cannot 
I be certain that you will say to yourself ''7'' and then "cat" 
after reading the next two sentences? What does 3 and 4 make? 
What does c-a-t spell? 



6 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

6. A man, walking with a friend in the neighborhood of a 
country village, suddenly expressed extreme irritation concerning 
the church bells, which happened to be pealing at the moment. 
He maintained that their tone was intrinsically unpleasant, their 
harmony ugly, and the total effect altogether disagreeable. The 
friend was astonished, for the bells in question were famous for 
their singular beauty. He endeavored, therefore, to elucidate 
the real cause underlying his companion's attitude. Skilful 
questioning elicited the further remark that not only were the 
bells unpleasant but that the clergyman of the church wrote 
extremely bad poetry. The causal "complex" was then ap- 
parent, for the man whose ears had been offended by the bells 
also wrote poetry, and in a recent criticism his work had been 
compared very unfavorably with that of the clergyman. The 
"rivalry-complex" thus engendered had expressed itself indi- 
rectly by an unjustifiable denunciation of the innocent church 
bells. The direct expression would, of course, have been abuse 
of the clergyman himself or of his works. 

It will be observed that, without the subsequent analysis, the 
behavior of the man would have appeared inexplicable, or at 
best ascribable to "bad temper," "irritability," or some other 
not very satisfying reason. Most cases where sudden passion 
over some trifle is witnessed may be explained along similar 
lines, and demonstrated to be the effect of some other and 
quite adequate cause. The apparently incomprehensible reac- 
tion is then seen to be the natural resultant of perfectly definite 
antecedents.^ 

Did you ever "fly off the handle" at a perfectly innocent per- 
son? Have you ever ridiculed a person^s clothes when the only 
trouble with the clothes was that the wearer had beaten you out 
in an examination? If your friends were aware of one or more 
of such complexes, as Hart has described above, would it help 
them in understanding your conduct? Would it help them to 
prophesy what you would do next? 

7. Now I want to be a nice, accommodating patient ; anything 
from sewing on a button, mending a net, or scrubbing the floor, or 
making a bed. I am a jack-of-all trades and master of none ! 
(Laughs ! notices nurse.) But I don't like women to wait on me 

iB. Hart, The Psychology of Insanity, 1912, p. 73f, 



1 



WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? 7 

when I am in bed ; I am modest ; this all goes because I want to get 
married again. Oh, I am quite a talker; I work for a New York 
talking machine company. You are a physician, but I don^t think 
you are much of a lawyer, are you? I demand that you send for 
a lawyer. I want him to take evidence. By God in Heaven, my 
Saviour, I will make somebody sweat ! I worked by the sweat of 
my brow. (Notices money on the table.) A quarter; twenty- 
five cents. IN GOD we trust; United States of America ; Army 
and Navy Forever!"^ 

The preceding paragraph and the one that follows are verbatim 
copies of the remarks of two different individuals. The former 
is that of a maniac and illustrates what is called ''flight of ideas; " 
the latter is that of a dementia prsecox patient and illustrates 
''incoherent speech." 

"What liver and bacon is I don't know. You are a spare; the 
spare; that's all. It is Aunt Mary. Is it Aunt Mary? Would 
you look at the thing? What would you think? Cold cream. 
That's all. Well, I thought a comediata. Don't worry about a 
comediata. You write, he is writing. Shouldn't write. That's 
all. I'll bet you have a lump on your back. That's all. I 
looked out the window and I didn't know what underground 
announcements are. My husband had to take dogs for a fit of 
sickness. 2 

Offhand one wouldn't say that there was any order or system to 
these two paragraphs, particularly the second one. And experts 
have more or less held that view until recently, when careful 
study commenced to show that there were rules and principles 
underlying even the ravings of the insane. Some day these will 
be as thoroughly understood as are physical and chemical laws 
today. 

8. Beliefs have been held as peculiarly one's own, and so 
intangible that no one until recently has dreamed of measuring 
them. Yet below there are given nine beliefs making up a sort 
of scale extending from absolute belief (100) through doubt (0) 
to absolute disbeHef ( — 100). This scale is very imperfect, 

1 J. R. deFursac, op. cit., p. 72. 

2 J. R. deFursac, Manual of Psychiatry, translated by A. J. Rosanoff, 1908, 
p. 71. 



8 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

being based on but a limited number of men and women, but it 
illustrates what can be done along the line of measuring intangible 
things. 

2 plus 2 equals 4. 99 

There exists an all wise Creator of the world 73 

A house-fly has six feet 47 

The most honest man I know will be honest ten 

years from now. 21 

"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the 

earth." - 2 

Magna Charta was signed in 1512. —22 

"It never rains but it pours." —53 

"Only the good die young." —74 

2 plus 4 equals 7. -99 

If one wishes to determine, for example, how strongly he 
believes that *' dark-haired girls are prettier than light-haired 
ones," he can compare it with those statements above and so 
obtain a rating for it. The writer cannot comprehend why the 
average man should rate this belief half way between the fifth and 
sixth beliefs on the ''scale," and the average woman half-way 
between the sixth and seventh. But they do. 

9. From the New York Times of about Mky 1, 1914, is quoted 
the following editorial comment on an article by a Superintendent 
of a Connecticut brass works which appeared in The Iron Age. 

At these works there was recently constructed a long incline up 
which heavy loads were to be wheeled in barrows, and premiums 
were offered to the men who did or exceeded a certain amount of 
this labor. They attempted it vigorously, but none succeeded in 
earning any of the extra money, instead they all fell considerably 
below the fixed task. 

Prompt investigation by an expert disclosed that the trouble lay 
in the fact that the men were working without sufficiently fre- 
quent periods of rest. Thereupon a foreman was stationed by a 
clock, and every twelve minutes he blew a whistle. At the sound 
every barrowman stopped where he was, sat down on his barrow, 
and rested for three minutes. The first hour after that was done 
showed a remarkable change for the better in accomplishment; 
the second day the men all made a premium allowance by doing 



I 



1 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? 9 

more than what had been too much; and on the third day the 
minimum compensation had risen, on the average, 40 per cent, 
with no complaints of overdriving from any of the force. 

Apparently a man can do more physical labor by working 12 
minutes and resting 3 minutes out of every 15 than he can if he 
works all of every 15 minute period throughout the day. This 
principle is one of the fundamental principles underlying scien- 
tific management, which has been so much discussed of late in 
various publications. Possibly this principle might be utilized 
by you in your daily life. But you may need to know consider- 
ably more of the whole subject before making the proper applica- 
tion of it to your particular type of work. 

10. How long does it take to say the alphabet? And how 
much time is required for one to say it backwards? And having 
said it once will one be able to recite it faster on a second trial? 
In Plate I is shown graphically just how much time is required to 
recite the alphabet forwards (i. e., 6.0 seconds) and backwards 
(i. e., 46.0 seconds), and furthermore how much time is required 
for each successive recitation up to twenty times. An average 
adult will decrease his time from 6.0 to 4.0 seconds in the one 
case and from 46.0 to 12.5 seconds in the second case. 

Why do we thus improve with practice? And how is the 
improvement accomplished? Where are the changes registered? 

Such a simple performance as that of saying the alphabet is 
after all very compHcated. Watching a child mastering its 
intricacies gives us some little appreciation of this fact. In- 
volved in this case are many of the problems of education — prob- 
lems which are also fundamental psychological ones. We meet 
similar problems on every hand. Today a human being may be 
unable to use a typewriter, or swim, or dance, or play golf, or 
run a motor boat; he may know nothing about banking, or 
politics, or how to broil a steak, or make a cake, or trim a hat. 
Yet in a short time we may find he has acquired any or many of 
these performances. This is such a common occurrence we pay 
Httle attention to it. But the more we consider the matter the 
more we should marvel at it. How does a person learn to type- 
write? How comes it that his fingers hit the right keys although 
his eyes are on the sheet from which he is copying? Or take 



10 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 




Plate I—Showing the time required (seconds) to recite the alphabet 
torwards (Curve A) and backwards (Curve B) for twenty successive trials. 
(Data based on the records of eieht adnlts.'t 



1 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? 11 

another experience through which we have all gone. How 
have we come to know that 7 plus 6 is 13 or that 7 times 6 is 42? 
Have all persons learned these two performances in the same 
way? Is there one best way to learn them? If so, what is it? 
Why is it that some never can learn such things — for we have 
known boys and girls and even men and women who can't. 

What has been given in this chapter could be extended indefi- 
nitely so as to bring in incidents dealing with the differences 
between whites and negroes or Chinese; problems dealing with 
poverty and its origin, or with success and its causes; questions 
concerning delinquency in court or truancy in school; methods 
of selecting salesmen for a great corporation or telephone girls 
for thetelephone co. In fact, it may be extended so as to 
include any and every relation that exists or may ever exist 
between man and man. All of these subjects may be discussed 
and many are discussed in other divisions of knowledge, such as 
history, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychiatry, crim- 
inology, advertising, salesmanship, education, etc., but all belong 
in the science of psychology. 

Psychology has been defined as the science of behavior. It is 
concerned with the orderly presentation of the facts and laws 
which underlie human conduct. It not only includes this but 
also takes in the whole realm of living beings. Today psycholo- 
gists are not only studying how man behaves and how he learns 
but also how rats, and guinea pigs, and monkeys, and birds, and 
even earthworms, behave and how they learn. This work with 
animals may seem foolish but it has already led to a better 
understanding of many phases of human behavior and undoubt- 
edly will lead to very much more. 

Psychology has not always been defined in this way. In 
earlier days it was defined as the ''science of the soul" or the 
"science of mind." Both of these definitions led to insurmount- 
able difficulties and have been discarded. A third definition, 
i. e., ''psychology is the science of consciousness," is still held by 
many psychologists. With such a definition one is led to empha- 
size conscious acts and more particularly the content of con- 
sciousness to the exclusion of such phenomena as are popularly 
grouped under the headings of behavior and conduct. But of 
late, the definition upheld in this book has been adopted by more 
and more psychologists. 



12 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

And the field of psychology is being deliberately broadened 
so that it shall include all of man's activity of every sort and kind. 
At the present time it is quite clear that those who uphold the 
definition of psychology as the science of consciousness are little 
or not at all interested in applied psychology, while those who 
have espoused the definition of psychology as the science of 
behavior are also those who have been most active in the applica- 
tion of psychology to advertising, salesmanship, vocational guid- 
ance, medical and legal problems, etc. 

Such a great subject as man's behavior cannot be covered in a 
few pages or in a few weeks. A beginning course must commence 
at some point and develop it in a systematic manner. This 
means that only certain things can be considered here. What 
shall those things be? Primarily, we shall consider how man 
learns. This will lead into many related phases of man's con- 
duct and, of course, if quite thorough would sooner or later touch 
all of man's behavior. But to attempt such a complete investiga- 
tion would be too tremendous an undertaking. We shall have to 
be content with a general survey of the learning process with 
special reference to learning in the school. We shall take up one 
example after another; we shall actually learn things in order to 
have fresh in our minds just how it feels to learn; we shall com- 
pare our progress with that of others in order to see how indi- 
viduals differ; and we shall compare one performance with 
another in order to draw up general principles and laws which 
will explain what learning is and how it is accomplished. 

After considering some of the principles underlying the way in 
which man learns and how men differ, particularly in learning, 
we shall consider third what men want, or, in other words, why 
men act as they do. As a corollary we shall further consider how 
one may get another to do as he desires. The applications 
throughout will be to the problems of education, but many will 
be taken from other fields of activity in order to illustrate the 
common relationship to be found among all of man's activities. 



LESSON 2 

COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR 

Human behavior is very complicated. Because it is so, the 
usual practice in commencing its study is to consider examples 
that have been artificially made simple. There are advantages 
in such a procedure, but the writer believes that there are even 
more disadvantages. What is wanted here is that the student 
shall deduce his psychological principles from everyday experi- 
ences and so be able to use what psychology he possesses at all 
times. Consequently an actual lesson in sight-spelling, as it is 
called, taken from a first grade in the grammar school, will be 
used as an illustration of certain fundamental psychological 
principles. 

The Sight-Spelling Lesson 

The sight-spelling lesson is employed by many teachers in the 
elementary school to train children in spelling. It consists 
essentially of showing a word for a moment and then requiring 
the child to reproduce the word in writing. It is one of the 
methods used in training pupils to read words, and even sen- 
tences, before they know their letters. 

Relationship of a Sight-spelling Lesson to Lessons in Reading 
and Writing. — In order to get the right setting for the under- 
standing of a sight-spelling lesson it will be necessary to go back 
and get clearly in mind just what a teacher has attempted to 
accomplish before commencing the teaching of spelling. This 
preliminary work as given in a typical school can be roughly 
divided into four steps: 

First. The children relate their experience in class. — Day 
after day the children are encouraged and led to talk about 
things that interest them. 

Second. These experiences are written on the board. — On a 
Monday about three weeks after the opening of school, the 
children are asked for example, to tell their experiences since 

13 



14 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

last Friday. One little boy may reply as follows, his sentences 
being written on the board as he gives them : — 

"I went to the country on Saturday. 

''I played with Fred. 

"We played leapfrog. 

''We played ball. 

"We had a happy time.'' 

The children are here given a clear conception of the fact that 
what they say may be recorded on the board — that writing has 
something to do with their very thoughts. 

Third. Drill is commenced leading to "recognition^' of the 
sentences, phrases and words. — The teacher asks: ''Who can 
find where it says, 'I went to the country on Saturday' ? . . . 
Who can find where it says, 'We played leapfrog' ? . . . Where 
does it say, 'We played ball'? . . . Where does it say, 'I 
played with Fred'?" etc. At first these sentences are remem- 
bered largely because of their position on the board. The child 
remembers the order in which the sentences occurred and makes 
his guesses accordingly. Soon, however, the recognitions are 
made in terms of the form of the whole sentence. 

Right from the start whole sentences or phrases or words are 
thus drilled upon. Slowly for some children, more quickly for 
others, the forms of the words or sentences are remembered and 
connected with their sound. As the word is pronounced by the 
teacher and then pointed to by some child, the teacher rewrites 
the word and calls their attention to the fact that "This (point- 
ing to the written word) always says 'ball.'" After three or 
four days of such work in which the question has been all the 
time, "where is this," the children are ready for the fourth step. 

Fourth. Drill is given leading to "recalV of the sentences, 
phrases and words. — Here the characteristic question is, "What 
does this say?" The child here must verbally reproduce from 
memory the words and sentences as the teacher points to the 
written symbols. Here again, as the words are pointed to and 
then named by the child, the teacher frequently rewrites the 
word (for example, "ball") at the side of the sentence and says, 
"This always says ball." 

At this point writing may be introduced to the child. The 
teacher choosing some particular word, asks the children to 
watch her write it. The children watch the word as it is written 



2 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR 15 

and after it has been erased go to the board and write it as best 
they can. 

The fourth step is really two steps — one deals with the recall 
of the sound of the word when it is seen (reading) ; the other deals 
with the reproduction of the form of the word after it is seen 
(writing) . The former means that the child will properly move 
the muscles of his speech organs when confronted by the sight 
of the word; the other that he will properly move the muscles 
of his fingers and arm when confronted by the sound of the word. 

In a diagrammatic way we can illustrate these two processes as 
follows : — 

Reading. Seeing word ''ball" saying the word ''ball." 

Writing. Seeing word "ball" writing the word "ball." 

Writing. Hearing the word "ball" writing the word "ball." 

The method of developing the second part of this process of 
"recall" is called "sight-spelling." It might more properly be 
called "sight- writing," for the emphasis in the drill is upon a 
reproduction of the form of a word previously seen, but not now 
present to sight. 

The Sight-spelling Lesson in Detail. — The procedure in a 
sight-spelling lesson is as follows: The teacher pronounces the 
word "ball," then writes it on the board at the usual rate of 
writing, then pronounces the word "ball" again, allows the 
children to look at it for a moment, and erases it. Then she tells 
them that she is going to call upon them to go to the board and 
write the word there. She then rewrites the word, pronouncing it 
as she does so, and may have the class also pronounce it. After 
they have looked at it for a moment, she erases it. Then one 
or more children are sent to the board to write the word. Some 
of the children may get it correctly while others will fail. 
Those who have failed may be given one or more chances to see 
the word written again or not as the teacher is disposed. Then 
another word is presented and the procedure is repeated. 
(One of the most important elements in the whole process is the 
matter of having the child watch the teacher as she writes the 
word. It is not enough for the child to see the completed word, 
he must see it as it is written. Otherwise, he may attempt to write 
it backwards or in some other way than the correct method.) 

As this drill is continued each child learns how best to utihze 



16 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

his time while the word is exposed on the board so as to be able to 
write the word later. These methods which children adopt have 
not been worked out by adults as yet. When they are under- 
stood in all probability we shall be able to help the child develop 
the best method for him. What actually takes place, no matter 
how it is done, is that the child sees the word written on the 
board and then after it is erased goes to the board and reproduces 
the form of the word as he has previously seen it. (Of course it 
is not meant that the reproduction is anything but an approxima- 
tion at first, but with practice there results a fairly good imitation 
of the teacher's form.) 

Summary. — The above paragraphs have presented (1) what a 
sight-spelling lesson is, (2) the relationship between a sight- 
spelling lesson and other lessons in the first grade which have led 
up to it and (3) the detailed elements in a sight-spelling lesson. 
We now have a general idea of the relationship of spelling to 
conversation (oral expression), reading and writing. 

The Three Components of Behavior — Situation, Bond 

AND Response^ 

At this stage in the course it will be impossible to discuss in 
detail the various steps relating to the sight-spelling lesson or to 
work out the various psychological principles involved in any 
one step. To do so properly would necessitate a fairly complete 
knowledge of psychology — the very thing we, of course, do not 
have at our disposal just now. 

For the present it will be sufficient to get clearly in mind one 
big conception which the following three questions and their 
answers will present. 

What is the Object of the Lesson? — Evidently, to teach the 
children how to spell the words presented. Or possibly a better 
answer is — to arrange matters so that the children will learn the 
spelling of certain words. Consequently, every detail in the 
whole lesson (every act or idea of teacher or child) is related to 
this central proposition 'Hhe child learning." (And conversely, 
if there is any detail which does not actually aid the child to learn, 
it is out of place.) 

^ Of the three components mentioned here, the first and third alone will be 
discussed in this lession; the "bond" will be taken up in the following lesson. 



2 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR 17 

How May All the Details in the Entire Lesson be Divided into 
Two Groups as They Relate to the Child's Learning? — On the one 

hand the child sees and hears certain things; that is, the child is 
influenced by certain things and, on the other hand, the child 
does certain things. All the actions of the teacher, whether 
spoken words, written words, or gestures — all influence the child. 
Likewise, all the actions of other children in the room influence 
the child. And because of all this the child makes certain 
responses. Obviously then the details in any lesson fall into 
the two groups, (1) those which influence the child, and (2) those 
which constitute the child's reaction. 

How May We Designate these Two Groups of Details Which 
Make Up the Spelling Lesson? — All those details of the lesson 
which go to influence the child, all combined together, we may 
call the Situation. And all those details which constitute what 
the child does, we may call the Response. 

To illustrate these two terms, take this single incident in a 
spelling lesson. Following a discussion of a "leaf" and the 
writing of sentences on the board concerning a leaf the teacher 
then turns to the matter of teaching the writing of the single 
word. She turns and writes the word ''leaf" on the board. 
Pointing to the word on the board, she announces, ''This is the 
word 'leaf.'" Then she erases the word. "Now I am going to 
write the word 'leaf again on the board. I want you to watch 
carefully and see how I do it. After I have written it on the 
board, I am going to erase it. Then I am going to ask you to 
come to the board and write it." 

The Situation confronting any child, for example, Carl, and his 
Response can diagrammatically be expressed as follows : 

Situation Response 

1. Carl in school. General state of attention (a) to 

2. Presence of teacher and school- class, (b) to teacher, and (c) to 

mates. specific topic under discussion. 

3. Preceding events concerning a 

"leaf." 

4. Teacher's instructions about 

noticing the word on the board 
and then reproducing it after 
she has erased her writing. 

The teacher next goes on to say, "Now look carefully and get 
a good picture of 'leaf.' " She then writes the word on the board, 



18 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

waits a moment, and then erases it. Then she calls on Carl to 
write the word on the board. Carl goes to the board and writes 
the word in his crude style of handwriting. 

The situation confronting Carl and his response are: 

Situation Response 

1, 2, 3, and 4 above {continued). (d) Carl rises from seat, (e) walks 

5. Teacher writes the word "leaf" to board, (/) writes word 

on the board. "leaf" on board, and (g) 

6. Teacher erases word. returns to his seat. 

7. Teacher calls on Carl to write 

word on board. 

Because Carl has done well the teacher nods her approval. 
This can be represented in the same way: 

Situation Response 

1, 2, and 7 (continued). (h) Carl feels pleased. 

8. Carl's "leaf" on board. 

9. Teacher nods her approval of his 

performance. 

It is evident that the Situation comprises the details which' 
influence Carl in any way, while it is also evident that the 
Response comprises all the details of Carl's behavior in responding 
to the situation. It is equally evident that the Situation and 
the Response are very complicated, being made up of many 
details. 

The first point to get in this course is that the learning process 
can be and must be resolved into the two factors ''Situation" 
and ''Response." All learning is the doing of something 
(Response) because of the influence exerted by certain other 
things (Situation). 

Assignment to be Prepared for the Next Class-hour 

1. Be prepared to give the steps in a sight-spelKng lesson, dis- 
tinguishing particularly between the "recognition" and "recall" 
processes. 

2. Be prepared to discuss this lesson in terms of the two 
components — situation and response. 

3. Write out your analysis of Sam's behavior as given in 
the quotations from Penrod and Sam on page 1. In order to 
handle such material in the easiest manner it is best to break the 



2 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR 19 

story up into very short ''scenes." (Thus the incident about 
Carl, above, was divided into three scenes.) 

The first four scenes would be expressed diagrammatically as 
follows : 

Situations Confronting Sam Responses of Sam 

1. Sam in love with Mabel. (a) Stops and talks with Mabel. 

2. Meets Mabel on the street. 

1, 2 (continued). (b) Leans against the picket fence. 

3. Mabel ''keeps her face turned (c) Experiences "exquisite mo- 

away," ''maintains one foot in ments;" "heart beating in an 

continuous motion," "confines unaccustomed manner;" "suf- 

her remarks to 'U-huh.' " fering from embarrassment." 

(d) Continues talking although his 
"usual habits of talking are 
interfered with, due to pres- 
ence of unusual feehngs," etc. 
1, 2, 3 (continued). 

4. Unusual feelings in stomach, (e) Further arousal of sex instinct. 

heart, lungs, etc. 

5. Continues talking. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (continued). (f) Starts violently, blushes. 

6. Penrod's, "Sam-my and May- (g) Looks for Penrod. 

bullOh, oh!" 

Finish the analysis of this passage. Be sure to write out your 
analysis, since by so doing you are forced to think definitely and 
clearly. ^ 

1 From author's Psychology of Selling Life Insurance, 1922, p. 63ff. 



LESSON 3 
COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR (continued) 

In Lesson 2, we found that all the details in any lesson may be 
divided under the two heads, situation and response. Just to 
strengthen our grasp on this fact let us prove it in another case. 
We will take the method of teaching reading as given in Lesson 2, 
and consider not the behavior of a single person but the general 
principles underlying the behavior of all learners. 

Since language is the sine qua non of reading we may say that 
the earliest steps in such learning are taken before the child's 
first birthday. A probable situation is the entrance of the father 
and the mother's statement, ''Here comes dadda." If the baby 
happens to make a noise immediately thereupon, which approxi- 
mates in any way the word ''dadda," it will be greeted with wild 
enthusiasm by the parents, which will arouse the interest and 
pleasure of the baby. All of the baby's accidental successes 
will be so delightfully welcomed; his inopportune remarks ignored. 
After many such occurrences, the presence of the father and the 
sound of the word *' dadda" will practically always cause the 
baby to say ''dadda." After still more practice the sight of the 
father will in itself be sufficient to cause the baby to call him by 
name. For the situation has become linked to its appropriate 
response in the baby's mind. 

Many words are learned in like manner. The vocal organs 
are increasingly exercised by crying, cooing, laughing and chance 
expressions, until the child has gained the ability to make all the 
sounds in the language. After this the vocabulary grows rapidly 
and names can be repeated after one or two hearings. 

In all cases we have first the presence of the object and the 
sound of the name calling up the pronunciation of the name. 
After this is acquired the mere presence of the object is sufficient 
to induce the response of the word. Later the physical presence 
of the object is unnecessary. The ability to express ideas, 
desires, etc., develops. 

20 



3 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR (CONTINUED) 21 

Before the child begins to read, then, it has already learned that 
spoken words stand for visible objects. He has now to learn that 
visible words stand for spoken words, that there can be two situa- 
tions leading to the same response. 

The object, a flag equals spoken "flag." 

The word "flag" equals spoken "flag. " 

The ability to pronounce the word when one sees it in written 
form is fundamentally the ability to read. (Of course, the reading 
of a well-trained person involves much more than pronouncing 
one word at a time in response to its written form. Smooth 
reading with expression is due to the development of these 
fundamental processes so that they operate smoothly and auto- 
matically together with the development of other habits dealing 
with expression and the like.) 

What the teacher must do then is to form a connection, or 
bond, between this situation (the word "flag") and the desired 
response (saying "flag"). This is what she does in the method 
outlined in Lesson 2, i. e., 

1. Writes sentences on board. 

2. Asks for recognition. 

3. Demands recall. 

This, it is clear, on a little consideration is the wise course of 
procedure. For at first the child has no response at all to the 
written words, "We have a big flag." The white chalk marks 
on the board mean nothing to the child. They mean, indeed, 
much less to the child than Chinese symbols do to you, the reader, 
for the child does not even know that they stand for spoken 
words — for objects and actions. But the teacher writes the 
words, "We have a big flag" on the board and pronounces 
the sentence to the class. Thus a weak link is formed between 
the sight of the whole sentence and its sound. 

Then the child is asked to pick the sentence out from others. 
This is not so difl^icult as recalling it would be. We all know it is 
easier to recognize a face as having been see before than to give 
the name belonging to the face. Even a faint connection between 
situation and response will lead to recognition. 

And, of course, every such recognition strengthens the connec- 
tion. After some drill the teacher can successfully ask what 
would have been useless before, that is, that the child recall 



22 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

what a given sentence says; i. e., respond to the question, ''What 
does this say?" pointing at the same time to the written sentence. 
With recall the last step is reached and only more drill is needed. 
Then the child can read. 

Reading is then at bottom, the moving of the muscles of the 
throat in response to certain curlicues on a page or blackboard. 
The proper control of these muscles is learned before school age. 
The joining them up with the new situation, the curlicues, is the 
task of the teacher of reading. 

The object of a school lesson seems then to be the formation of a 
bond between a given situation and a desired response. An 
approved primary method is so constituted that it leads naturally 
from a stage in which there is no bond, through a stage where 
there is a slight bond, finally to a stage where a fairly strong bond 
is established and made stronger by drill. 

Situation, Bond, and Response 

Just how a human being behaves depends upon two factors — • 
upon the elements confronting him in his environment and upon 
his own internal make-up. If we know what these external 
elements are and what the internal organization of the individual 
is, we can prophesy what he will do* in response to any particular 
situation. For example, we know that all educated people 
can add and spell; consequently, we can safely depend upon it 
that any educated Englishman or American will think "four," 
and then ''cat," as he reads the next line: 

2 + 2 = c-a-t 

In the same way we know, if a boy and girl are interested in 
each other, that when they meet they will show embarrassment, 
excitement, etc. If they don't show these evidences of emotion 
they are not interested in each other. And we all know that a 
boy gets angry when called names, or caught with a girl he likes, 
or interfered with when he is with that girl. Knowing these 
things, we can prophesy a fight when Penrod provokes Sam. 

There is absolutely nothing profound or complicated in this 
psychological analysis. We all know these facts and to a very 
considerable extent act upon them. For example, what happens 
when a circle of girls suspect one of their number of being en- 
gaged? They suddenly confront her with situations that should 



3 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR (CONTINUED) 23 

make her blush or show embarrassment if she is engaged. And 
they determine whether she is guilty or not, not by what she 
says, but by the tone of her voice and her manner. For words 
we can fairly easily control, but not the tone of voice or manner. 
Analysis of Behavior. — Suppose that without noticing what I 
am doing I put my hand on a hot radiator. The next moment I 
jerk it off, of course. Here we have the simplest kind of behavior. 
IFhe hot radiator stimulated nerve endings in the skin of my 
hand, nervous current flowed over the sensory nerve to the 
spinal cord, from there it was directed out over motor nerves to 
the muscles of my arm, they contracted and jerked my hand 
away. All this would happen in just the same way were I 
asleep or awake; in other words consciousness is not involved. 
Later on I may be conscious or not, depending upon circum- 
stances. The elements involved in all this are : 

1. Hot radiator in contact with skin. 

2. Sense-organs (nerve-endings) in skin aroused by heat. 

3. Nerve current to nerve center. 

4. Nerve current through nerve center. 

5. Nerve current from nerve center to muscles. 

6. Contraction of muscles (hand pulled away). 

Before attempting to see what this means, consider a second 
example of behavior. Upon seeing ''2^-2= " I instantly 
think "4:." Here the following elements are involved: 

1. ''2 -f-2 = " 

2. Sense organ of sight (eye) stimulated. 

3. Nervous current from retina of eye to brain. 

4. Nervous current through brain (nerve-centers). 

5. Nervous current from brain to muscles. 

6. Contraction of muscles in throat (for when I think "4" the 
muscles of the throat move). 

In addition there is : 

7. Consciousness of (a) seeing "2 -\- 2 = " and (6) thinking 
"4." (No one knows what relationship exists between "7. 
Consciousness" and "4. Nervous current through brain nerve- 
centers," but apparently consciousness is present only when such 
nerve-centers are aroused. 

Analysis of one more example of behavior, which is slightly 
more complicated, will aid in making our point clear. John is 
asked by his teacher '' If you had a quarter and bought four apples 



24 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

at four cents each, how much money would you have left?" 
Here the elements are: 

1. Problem presented by teacher to John in school. 

2. Sense-organs of hearing and sight stimulated. 

3. Nervous current to brain. 

4. Nervous current through brain. 

5. Nervous current from brain to muscles. 

6. Contraction of muscles, saying ''nine cents." 

7. Consciousness of: 

(a) being in school, in arithmetic class, of being called 

upon by teacher, etc. 
(6) problem. 

(c) thinking 4X4. 

(d) thinking 16. 

(e) thinking 25 - 16. 
(/) thinking 9. 

Here we have quite a complicated lot of factors. They could 
be made to appear still more complicated if they were subdivided 
into still finer divisions. 

One Way of Grouping Elements. — These elements can be 
grouped roughly under the three headings of situation, bond, and 
response, so that all the elements that affect the individual are 
put under the heading of situation; all the elements that are 
mvolved in the result are put under the heading of response; and 
the connection between situation and response is classed as bond. 
When so grouped we should have: 

Situation Bond Response 

1. Problem, etc. 4. Nervous current 5. Nervous current to 

2. Sense-organ aroused. through brain. muscles. 

3. Nervous current to 6. Muscular contrac- 

brain. tions. 

7. Consciousness of : 7. Consciousness of: 

(a) beingin school, etc. (e-f) thinking out 

(&) problem. solution. 

The situation will always be used in the practical sense of 
including (a) objects arousing sense-organs to activity, and (h) 
presence^ of all other elements in mind at the time. For example, 

^ Strictly speaking, the very general term "presence" must be used and 
not "consciousness" because one responds to elements that are present but 
not necessarily conscious, as, for example, restlessness and listlessness as 
responses to a slight fever not consciously reahzed. 



3 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR (CONTINUED) 25 

in the story of Penrod and Sam, Mabel is an object which stimu- 
lates Sam's eye, he becomes conscious of her, and at the same 
time is conscious of his interest in her. All these together cause 
him to stop and talk to her. 

The response will always be used in the practical sense of includ- 
ing (a) muscular movements, (6) change in activity of glands 
(e. g., flow of saliva upon seeing a well-cooked beefsteak) and 
other physiological changes within the body (e. g., heart beating 
faster) and (c) consciousness of result from responding to situa- 
tion (e. g., answer to problem, satisfaction at getting it correct, 
etc.). 

The bond will always refer to the connection between situation 
and response — a connection to be thought of as a pathway made 
up of nerve-cells and a pathway over which current passes when 
the situation occurs. 

Situations are Ordinarily Complex. — When you read ''2 + 
2 = " you are confronted with a very simple situation. But 
when Sam replied to Mabel by saying, ''Well, Mabel, it ain't my 
fault. I didn't do anything. It's Penrod," he was responding 
to a very complex situation. It involved his love for Mabel, her 
presence, his unnatural feelings and emotions, the presence of 
Penrod, Penrod's remarks, Mabel's reactions to Penrod shown in 
her remarks to Sam and her walking away. But these were 
only a beginning. Such other factors were involved as, Sam's 
being born a boy, a certain number of years before, with definite 
hereditary tendencies; his having grown up in a rough-and-ready 
boy society. Eliminate any one of these elements of the total 
situation confronting Sam and his response would be different. 

Can an item he both a response and a situation? — The analysis 
of the passage from Penrod and Sam has undoubtedly puzzled 
many, in that certain items were listed in one "scene" as 
responses and then in the next ''scene" as situations. For 
example, one response on the part of Sam on meeting Mabel 
was "exquisite moments," "heart beating in an unaccustomed 
manner," "suffering from embarrassment." These phenomena 
resulted from meeting her. But they in turn immediately com- 
menced to affect his further behavior. Thus the wildly beating 
heart and irregular breathing* interfered with his talking. In 
the same way the response of thinking out the answer "nine cents" 
to the problem analyzed above can be broken up into scenes 



26 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

to show that as each element in the response occurs it immediately 
joins with all the other elements in the situation to cause the 
next response. 

Behavior is a steady stream of events. In analyzing it we have 
to break it up into short scenes in order to discuss it. In doing so 
we do violence to some of the facts. But if we bear in mind that 
the scenes are artificial units of behavior, that behavior is flow- 
ing along, and that details from without first make some impres- 
sion and then very often these responses in turn join with the 
next details from without as causes for the next impression, we 
shall not go far astray in our study. 

A Second Way of Grouping Elements Entering into Behavior. — 
At times it is very helpful for clear thinking to distinguish 
between the object in the situation and the conscious elements 
present in the mind at the time. The term ''stimulus^' (plural 
stimuli) will accordingly be used to refer solely to the external 
object stimulating a sense-organ. 

There is no corresponding term which covers the muscular and 
glandular response to stimulation and does not include the 
conscious elements of response. But when the formula stimulus • 
bond-response is employed, the term response should be 
interpreted in the narrower sense, whereas when the formula 
situation-bond-response is used, the term response should be 
interpreted in the broader sense. 

This double way of dividing behavior into its components is 
very troublesome to beginning students in psychology. As the 
course progresses the matter will gradually become clearer and 
clearer; particularly so, if the student will keep clearly in mind 
that when situation-bond-response occurs the emphasis is being 
put upon cause and effect, whereas when stimulus-bond- 
response occurs, emphasis is being put strictly upon the factors 
outside the individual as they affect him. And in such cases 
the elements within his brain are to be thought of as due to sys- 
tems of nerve-cells that have been aroused to activity — hence are 
to be viewed as part of the bond. 

Further Consideration of the Term "Bond."— The term ''bond" 
conveys the meaning of connecting situation and response. 
Instead of "bond" the term ''mechanism" could be employed, 
so calling to mind a system of nerve cells that operates as a unit. 
And again, instead of "bond" the term "experience" could be 



3 COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR (CONTINUED) 27 

used, thus emphasizing that the individual is acting in terms of 
his own experience, or that of the race, born in him. When 
''bond" is used all three of these conceptions should be thought 
of. The response follows the situation because a mechanism 
has been set into operation connecting the two together and this 
connection represents the experience of the past. 

Scientific Conception of Behavior 

The teacher (and most of us do more or less teaching during 
our lives) needs to realize that his task is to so present stimuli 
that a situation will confront the child which will lead to the 
desired response. This means the teacher must acquire a fund 
of knowledge and experience so as to know the psychological 
connections between situations and responses. Such knowledge 
will help in two ways : first, it will enable the teacher to present 
the right stimuli and second, it will cause the teacher immediately 
to look for the presence of unsuspected elements in a situation 
when the desired response does not result. For example, a boy 
was transferred from one school to another and at the bottom of 
the transfer was written, "George is a good boy and gets his 
lessons well." The new teacher stuck the transfer on a hook on 
the wall where it was seen by the children in the room. George 
had been a good boy in the sixth grade, but no situation that the 
seventh grade teacher could devise would cause good behavior 
because he was always reacting to the jibes of his fellows about 
being a good boy. Lack of knowledge of how a twelve-year-old 
boy must respond to the situation ''good boy" from his play- 
mates caused this teacher a "heap" of unnecessary trouble. 

Summary 

Two principal points have been presented so far. First, the 
nature of psychology and what psychologists are attempting to . 
do, and second, that behavior can be viewed in terms of the three 
components — situation, bond, and response. 

Object of Lessons 4 to 18 

In the next fifteen lessons an analytical study of the learning 
process will be made. Very simple tasks of learning will be 
assigned and careful observations of how each task is accom- 



28 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

plished will make many of the fundamental principles of learning 
apparent. 

The next class-hour will be devoted to such an experiment. 
Before coming to class, read over the instructions in Lesson 4 up 
to the heading: ''Instructions for writing up the results." But 
do not practice the experiment. If you do, you are quite likely to 
get results at the next class-hour that will be misleading and 
extremely difficult to write up. 



LESSON 4 
HOW DOES ONE LEARN TO SAY THE ALPHABET? 

The first laboratory assignment in a new course of study must 
necessarily be very simple, else the beginning student will be 
swamped with all the details confronting him. Consequently, 
we shall study here what is apparently a simple problem, i. e., 
the processes involved in learning the alphabet — particularly in 
learning to say it backwards. But although the assignment in 
one sense is very simple, yet in another sense it is most profound. 
No one can list all the processes that are involved here nor 
understand any of them absolutely. 

The student commencing this course should carry with him 
much of the spirit of the early pioneer. He is starting on a 
journey of exploration in which some of the landmarks are known 
and mapped for him but most of the smaller points, of interest 
are not mapped and still remain to be discovered. This course 
in educational psychology will afford every student opportunities 
for discovering facts and principles regarding the learning process 
not now recorded in any textbook. Consequently he may attack 
this seemingly trivial assignment in the spirit of exploration and 
with the determination to discover new thir^gs. 

1. Problem. — What happens when you recite (1) the alphabet 
forwards twenty times, and (2) the alphabet backwards twenty 
times? 

2. Apparatus. — A watch with a second hand. (If you do not 
have such a watch, obtain one from the instructor.) 

3. Procedure. — Two persons will work together; one will be the 
Subject (person to do the reciting) smd one willhe the Experimenter. 
When both are ready the Experimenter will watch the second 
hand and when it reaches 58 on the dial will call out, *'Get 
ready," and when it reaches 60 will say ''Go." The Subject 
will then recite the alphabet as fast as possible. When the 
Subject reaches the letter "Z" the Experimenter notes the 
number of seconds that have elapsed and records it in his notes. 

29 



30 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The Experimenter will find it necessary to have before him the 
alphabet written out so that as the Subject recites he may follow 
with his eye and note any mistakes in the Subject's recitation. 

After each of the 20 trials, the Experimenter should record (a) 
the time required by the Subject to recite the alphabet, (6) any 
mistakes in doing so, (c) any changes in method he may note, 
(d) any other interesting facts. 

Having finished the above, repeat the whole procedure but this 
time recite the alphabet backwards, instead of forwards. The 
Experimenter should write out the alphabet backwards in order 
to aid him in catching the mistakes of the Subject. The Ex- 
perimenter will not prompt the Subject except to say, ''No,'' 
when the Subject gives a wrong letter. 

As before, the Experimenter will record (a) the time required 
by the Subject to recite the alphabet backwards, (6) any mistakes 
in doing so, (c) any changes in method, (d) any other interesting 
facts. 

(Finish the above before reading further.) 

Instructions for Writing up the Experimjent 

If possible both partners should arrange to prepare the assign- 
ment together. If this is not possible, then the Subject should 
secure a copy of the Experimenter's notes. Both should prepare 
this assignment and hand it in at the next class-hour. 

How to Plot, a Learning Curve. — Refer to the curves shown in 
Plate I, as a model.' The curves of no two persons are alike, 
consequently yours will not agree exactly with the two given in 
Lesson 1. 

Plot the data you have secured in the two parts of the experi- 
ment. Do as follows: Secure a sheet of co-ordinate paper. 
Draw a fine across the bottom of the sheet about a half inch from 
the bottom. Draw another line at right angles to this base line 
along the left-hand side of the sheet, about a half inch from the 
edge of the paper. At intervals of about one-fourth inch number 
consecutively from 1 to 20 underneath the base line. Number 
the lines along the vertical line consecutively from 1 up as far 
as the paper permits. Call the base line ''0." 

The numbering along the base line represents the successive 
trials from 1 to 20. The numbering along the vertical axis 



4 HOW DOES ONE LEARN TO SAY THE ALPHABET? 31 

represents the amount of time consumed in reciting the alphabet. 
Hence at the right of the figure 20 write the word *' Trials" and 
at the top of the page above the last number in the vertical scale, 
write the word ''Seconds." 

When this is done, note the time-record in the first recitation of 
the alphabet. Suppose this is 6 seconds. Now mark a small 
"x" at the intersection of the line numbered ''6 seconds" and 
the line numbered ''trial 1." Suppose the second trial was done 
in 5 seconds. Then mark similarly a small "x" at the intersec- 
tion of the 5-second line and the 2d-trial line. (If it was SJ^-^ 
seconds, instead of 5, the cross would be made half-way between 
the 6-second and the 5-second line.) When you have marked 
the twenty "x's," then connect them together withs traight lines. 
This jagged line represents the learning curve in saying the alpha- 
bet forwards. Draw the learning curve for saying the alphabet 
backwards in the same way. 

Give a title to the sheet, such as "Learning Curves for Reciting 
the Alphabet Forwards and Backwards." 

How to Write up the Experiment. — 1. The problem. — State 
what is the problem you are attempting to solve. In this case 
the problem may be stated as "How Does One Learn to Say the 
Alphabet?" 

2. Apparatus, — State under this heading what apparatus 
you used in solving the problem, as "A watch with a second 
hand." 

3. Procedure. — State what you did in order to secure your 
results. Give date and names of the Experimenter and Subject, 
first of all. In this course you need not copy the procedure as 
given in the text but may state, "Followed instructions as given 
in manual, except ." Then give in detail any deviations. 

4. Results. — Here record (1) your time records, (2) mistakes 
made, (3) changes in method, (4) other interesting facts, (5) your 
curves. In other words, record under this heading the material 
you have gathered together in performing the experiment. 

5. Interpretation. — Here ordinarily you would summarize 
your results and explain what they mean. At the beginning of 
this course you will be aided in interpreting your results by 
being given specific questions to answer — questions which help 
you summarize and explain your results. In this case, answer 
the following questions : 



32 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(a) How do your two learning curves differ? Explain why. 
(6) In what respects do the two curves agree? Explain. 

(c) Why is it possible to recite the alphabet faster and with 
fewer mistakes on the twentieth trial than on the first trial? 
Has the Situation changed? Has the Response changed? 
Or has the Bond changed? 

(d) Why do you suppose in Lesson 3, Carl could write the word 
''leaf" on the board after having seen his teacher write it and not 
before? What changed there — the situation, the response, or 
the bond? 

6. Applications. — Record concrete cases where principles 
developed here will apply in other phases of life. For example, in 
learning to use a saw, one will saw through a 6-inch plank very 
slowly the first time and will do a pretty poor job. Next time the 
job will be done in less time and with fewer ragged edges. Suc- 
cessive trials will result in better and better work. The greatest 
progress will be made in the early trials. 

In this lesson you have been confronted with several things, 
which were probably new to you, such as:— 

1. Saying the alphabet backwards. 

2. A learning curve and its characteristics. 

3. Plotting a curve. 

4. Writing up a laboratory experiment according to a pre- 
scribed outline. 

It will require a number of further lessons before the last three 
of these propositions will become thoroughly established. Apply 
what you have learned in this experiment to yourself. It will 
take time to write up this experiment and you will not do it 
without many mistakes. A month from now you will have cut 
your time in half and you will not make those mistakes. Do the 
best you can in the time you have for preparing the lesson. 



I LESSON 5 

SOME FACTS CONCERNING THE LEARNING PROCESS 
AS OBTAINED FROM THE ALPHABET EXPERIMENT 

All learning is dependent upon practice, upon performing what 
is to be learned. That is the way you originally learned to say 
the alphabet forwards and that is the only way you can learn to 
say it backwards. 

In like manner you must yourself work out the assignments of 
the course. And to the extent that you do actually answer the 
questions, to just that extent you have a real grasp of the con- 
tents of the course. 

In order to afford you a check upon your work so that you may 
know how well you are doing it, the odd-numbered lessons (e. g., 
lessons 5, 7, 9, etc.) will answer the problems raised in the even- 
numbered lessons (e. g., lessons 4, 6, 8, etc.). These answers are 
not complete answers; no one knows enough today to answer 
absolutely completely. But they will furnish sufficiently 
complete answers for the purpose of the course. 

It goes without saying that you will lose the full value of the 
course if you refer to the odd-numbered lessons before handing in 
your written reports upon the corresponding even-numbered 
lessons. 

Answers to Questions in Lesson 4 

How Do Your Two Learning Curves Differ? Explain Why. — 

(1) The ''saying alphabet forwards" curve drops very little, 
whereas the other curve drops a great deal. That is, there is very 
little improvement in the first case and a great deal in the 
second. 

2. The curve in the first case is practically a straight line 
(disregarding now the irregular fluctuations) while the curve in 
the second case shows a very great drop at first with less and less 
of a drop as the trials continue. 

3. The second curve is throughout ''higher" than the first 
curve. 

Explanation. The learning curve of a performance that 
3 33 



34 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

has not been practised, shows a big drop after each trial, but as 
the trials continue, the curve drops less and less until it finally 
reaches a certain limit. In the case of saying the alphabet for- 
wards we must realize that the early trials (with their resulting 
big drops) have occurred long ago. We are dealing possibly 
with trials 1001 to 1020 and can expect only very slight improve- 
ment from trial to trial. In fact we must be fairly near the limit 
of speed that earn be obtained in this performance. 

The chief diffeieence between the two curves is to be explained 
by the fact that the first curve is the only portion we have of a 
learning curve made up of, say, a thousand and twenty repeti- 
tions, whereas the second curve is actually representative of the 
beginning of a learning process. The first curve must needs be 
nearly a straight line with only a slight drop, while the second 
curve must needs show large drops between each successive 
trial, but smaller and smaller drops as the repetitions continue. 
If we kept up the reciting of the alphabet backwards 10 times 
a day for a month or more possibly we would then get a curve on 
the last day that would be similar to our first curve. 

From the shape of the ciirve we can then tell something as to 
the amount of training which has already preceded the first trial 
shown in the curve. 

In What Respects Do the Two Curves Agree? Explain. — (1) 
Both drop. Both show improvement in the work done. 

Explanation. A fundamental law of human behavior is the 
only explanation that can be given for the fact that both curves 
drop. Continued repetition of a performance results in that per- 
formance becoming easier and easier and when there is any effort 
made to decrease the time of doing it, the performance is done 
in less and less time. 

2. Both show fluctuations. Improvement is not always shown 
between successive trials. Sometimes the performance is much 
inferior to that of several preceding trials. 

Explanation. The performance of any act is made up of many 
parts. Learning the whole performance (e. g., saying the alpha- 
bet backwards) consists in learning to do each little part and in 
learning to do them in the correct order. Sometimes the parts 
are all fairly well done — then we make a better record than 
usual — there is a sudden drop in the curve. Sometimes the 
parts are done poorly — then we make a poorer record than 



5 FACTS CONCERNING THE LEARNING PROCESS 35 

usual — there is an upward shoot to the curve. Most of the time 
we do some parts well and some poorly — then we make an 
average record. 

The causes as to why any part is done poorly or well will be 
taken up later. (Commence watching for them. Note why you 
fumble in tying your shoes, putting on your hat, shaving, spread- 
ing butter on a slice of bread, misspelling a word, answering a 
question incorrectly in an examination, etc.) 

In What Respects Do the Situations and Responses Differ at 
the Beginning and End of the Two Experiments? Explain 
Why. — (This question is inserted in addition to those asked in 
Lesson 4.) 

As to situation. 

1. Certain details were added to the situation. Certain details 

affected the Subject more and more, e. g. — 

(a) Certain combinations of letters are difficult (e. g., 

w, V, u, t.) and so are watched with more than 

ordinary care. 
(6) Letters said at first more or less one at a time, later 

become grouped — groups thus take the place of 

single letters as the items which affect the subject. 
(c) The ideas, *'I must go fast," "I must not make 

mistakes," impress the subject more and more. 

2. Certain details were eliminated more or less from the situa- 

tion, e. g. — 
• (a) Strangeness of surroundings ceased to affect the 
Subject. 

(b) Strangeness of requirement — to recite alphabet in 

psychology class — was forgotten. 

(c) Presence of other individuals, their conversation, etc. 

became less 'noticeable. 
{d) Presence of the Experimenter, the fact that he was 
watching, the fact that he was taking notes, the 
fact that he was timing, etc., had less effect. 
In other words, as learning progressed, the situation actually 
changed. Certain details affected the Subject more and more 
and certain other details less and less. 
As to response 

1. Actual performance was done (a) more quickly, (6) with 
fewer mistakes, (c) more smoothly. 



36 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



2. Feelings of strangeness, unfamiliarity, nervousness, excite- 

ment, unpleasantness, etc., became changed more or 
less to feelings of familiarity, confidence and pleasant- 
ness, etc. 

3. Actual method of doing work was changed, particularly in 

saying alphabet backwards, e. g.^ — ■ 
(a) At first alphabet had to be recited forwards in order 
to say it backwards; later this became unnecessary. 
(6) It was recited in short pieces with pauses in between. 

(c) Pauses became shorter, groupings of letters longer 

and longer. 

(d) Etc. 

The process of learning involves then not simply doing work 
faster and faster with fewer and fewer mistakes, but also atten- 
tion to different details in the situation coupled with qualitative 
changes in method (The above changes in both situations and 
response are actually due very largely to changes in the bond. 
From practice there results a better and better co-ordination and 
functioning of neural path-ways and the elimination of other 
path-ways that interfere with the work in hand. As explained in 
Lesson 3, these changes can be referred, however, to the situation 
or response.) 

Why is it possible to recite the alphabet faster and with 
fewer mistakes on the twentieth trial than on the first trial? 
Has the situation changed? Has the response changed? Or 
has the bond changed? 

The first part of this question has been answered under the 
second question, above. 

Has the situation changed? In one sense. No. There are the 
same factors outside the learner at the twentieth trial that were 
there at the first trial. But in another sense. Yes. In some way 
or other the learner has changed, so that he is influenced less by 
certain of the outside factors and more by other outside factors. 
Actually from the standpoint of the learner, then, the situation 
has changed, he is affected by details in a different way from what 
he was at the start. 

Has the response changed? Undoubtedly. This is shown by 
the decrease in time and the increase in accuracy, also by the 
change in attitude toward the task. 

What other changes have there been? We shall come to see 



1 



5 FACTS CONCERNING THE LEARNING PROCESS 37 

that the bond or mechanism within the learner that is affected 
by outside factors and that controls the learner's muscles (for 
all behavior is composed of muscular movements) has been 
changed by the repetition of the alphabet. 

We may think of this nervous mechanism as having been 
changed, on the one hand, so that now in this particular situation 
it is more susceptible to certain details and less susceptible to 
other details, and on the other hand, that it controls and directs 
the muscles engaged in speaking differently from what it did at 
the start. The learner is certainly more susceptible to the diffi- 
culties of reciting *'w, v, u, t" than at the start. He is also less 
concerned with the presence of his partner than at the start, and 
undoubtedly does recite the alphabet backwards in a much better 
manner than at the start. His behavior is different. His 
response to the situation is different. 

Learning to say the alphabet backwards comprises a certain 
situation, a certain response and a bond between the two. At the 
start this bond is very imperfectly developed. As repetition 
continues, the bond is developed until finally the situation (Ex- 
perimenter says, ''recite the alphabet backwards") is adequately 
bound to the various muscular movements which cause the letters 
of the alphabet to be sounded. 

Let us look upon the multiplication table in this same way. 
The teacher asks, ''What is 6 timesS?" The child responds "48." 
The situation, in terms of the child, is (1) the teacher, (2) the 
sounds making up "What is 6 times 8?" Certain muscles in the 
throat and mouth move and the child has said "48." Connecting 
the ear and the throat muscles are various nerve-centers and 
nerve-fibres. The stimulation in the ear has been communicated 
in a wonderful way over these nerve-pathways to the muscles 
in the throat and they have been moved — and "48" is said. 
The terms, "Situation," "Bond," and "Response," may be 
thought of now as covering this whole learned performance. 

Why do you suppose Carl in Lesson 2 could write the word 
"leaf" on the board after seeing his teacher write it and not 
before? What changed there — the situation, the response or 
the bond? 

If Carl has learned to write the word without knowing his 
letters, then the sight of the word and sound of the word have 



38 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



both become bound up with the movements of making the word. 
While Carl looked at the word and while he listened to the sound 
of the word, he wrote the word in the air, i. e., made the move- 
ments necessary to write the word. Diagrammatically, we have 

Sight of word > Movements involved in writing word. 

Sound of word > Movements involved in writing word. 

Through previous training in school and outside Carl had learned 
how to trace a drawing. Hence when he saw the word he was 
able to trace the word in the air. After a sufficient number of 
repetitions the bond connecting this situation with this response 
became strong enough to function. But the possession of a 
bond between seei7ig the word ' ' leaf "and writing it was not enough, 
else Carl could not write the word when his teacher pronounced it. 
While Carl was looking at the word he was also muttering it to 
himself. The teacher was also pronouncing it. Hearing the 
word then was part of the situation. And while hearing it he 
was also writing it in the air. Repetition of this detail of the 
situation and the response shortly resulted in a bond being formed 
between hearing the word and writing it. 

To answer the question, we must reply that a bond was formed 
between sight of the word "leaf" and the movements necessary 
to write it, also a bond between hearing the word and writing it. 
There has been a development of new bonds and consequently a 
new response. Before there was no bond and hence no writing 
response to the word ''leaf." Afterwards there is a bond and so 
an appropriate response is possible. 

It should be borne in mind that the above analysis is not so 
full as it should be. And it should further be borne in mind that 
this analysis may be true of some children and not true of others. 
We do not know today just how all children come to do these 
things. Some details will be added as this course develops. 

Summary of Points Covered So Far in This Course 

1. Analysis of sight-spelling lesson. 

2. Understanding of the terms, "Situation," "Bond," and 

"Response." 

3. Realization that a situation is a complex affair made up of 

many details and a response is correspondingly complex. 

4. Method of plotting a learning curve. 

5. The fact that repetition of the same performance produces 



1 



5 FACTS CONCERNING THE LEARNING PROCESS 39 

changes in the real situation, in the response, and in 
the bonds connecting situation with response. 

6. Some characteristics of learning curves. 

7. A method of writing up a laboratory exercise, involving the 

classification of your material under six headings:— 
(a) The Problem, what you are trying to do. 
(6) The Apparatus, what you have to work with. 

(c) The Procedure, how you go at solving the problem. 

(d) The Results, what information you discover. 

(e) The Interpretation, what you decide the results mean. 
(/) The Application, how the general principles outhned 

under "Interpretation" can be applied to other 
problems. 

Some Information Concerning the Construction of 

Curves 

1. All learning curves are based on two columns of data. The first column 
indicates the successive trials or successive units of time in terms of which 
the progress of learning is measured. The second column gives the measure- 
ments of the learning. For example, the data on which Curve B in Plate I is 
based are as follows : 

Number op Seconds Required to Recite 
Trials the Alphabet Backwards 

1 46.0 

2 30.1 

3 28.4 

4 27.8 

5 25.1 

6 22.9 

7 21.0 . 

8 21.8 

9 21.2 

10 20.1 

11 20.2 

12 16.9 

13 18.2 

14 16.0 

15 15.3 

16 15.6 

17 13.6 

18 13.9 

19 15.5 

20 12.5 

2. The trials are indicated along the horizontal axis and the "measure- 
ments of the learning " along the vertical axis. 



40 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



3. Figures for the horizontal scale should always be placed at the bottom 
of the chart and the figures for the vertical scale at the left. Make clear 
what the scales mean. 

4. In the curves in the psychological field, the horizontal scale should read 
from left to right and the vertical scale from bottom to top. 

5. All lettering and all figures on a chart should be placed so as to be 
read from the base or from the right-hand edge of the chart. 

6. Points on the curve should be indicated with little crosses (x) and 
connected with a line that is heavier than the co-ordinate ruHng so that the 
curves may be clearly distinguished from the background. 




Plate II. — Model graph, showing how zero base line should be indicated when 
there would not otherwise be space available to include the base line. 

7. Only in exceptional cases should the zero line of the scale be omitted. 
If it would require too much space to include the zero base hne, the bottom 
should be a slightly wavy line indicating that the field has been broken off and 
does not reach to zero. This is shown in the accompanying graph, Plate II. 

8. The title of a chart should be so complete and so clear that misinter- 
pretation will be impossible. In fact, the ideal is to write so definitely that 
if a stranger picked up the chart he could understand what it meant. ^ 

^ Good references on this subject for those interested in the subject are: 
W. C. Brinton, Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts, 1914 and C. Alexander, 
School Statistics and Publicity, 1919. 



LESSON 6 
HOW DOES ONE IMPROVE IN MIRROR-DRAWING? 

In Lessons 4 and 5 we obtained some idea of the process by 
which one learns an alphabet. The same general principles 
will apply more or less to the learning of lists of things, such as 
conjugations, declensions, etc. 

Today we are interested in discovering the general character- 
istics of the learning process in such cases as learning to write 
with a pen, to ride a bicycle, to skate, to use a saw, etc. As 
adults are all able to write it is manifestly impossible to study 
with adult subjects the learning processes involved in hand- 
writing. For that reason the experiment will be devoted to 
learning to draw while looking in a mirror. This process 
involves many factors which are common to learning handwrit- 
ing. Endeavor as best you can to understand this learning proc- 
ess as it will help you to understand what a child experiences 
while learning. 

As before, one partner will act as Experimenter (E) and the 
other as Subject (S). Here the emphasis will be upon complet- 
ing the drawing of 17 stars in the mirror-drawing apparatus. 
This can only be done by prompt and efficient effort. 

The Mirror-Drawing Experiment 

Problem. — How does one improve as one learns to draw in the 
Mirror-Drawing apparatus? 

Apparatus. — Mirror-Drawing Outfit; 17 six-pointed star blanks, 
watch. 

Procedure. — 1. The Experimenter determines how long it 
takes the Subject to trace the outline of the star, without using 
the mirror. Let him start at the point marked in the star and 
draw naturally around within the two lines. 

2. Experimenter arranges the apparatus so that Subject can 

41 



42 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

not see his own hand directly, but only through the mirror. 
Subject is to trace the outline of the star as quickly as possible 
with a lead pencil. 

The requirement is that the pencil must stay on the paper, and 
must pass in order around the star. Measure the time required 
to pass around the star. Then record the number of times the 
pencil line touches either of the two printed lines. Each one 
should be counted a mistake. Furthermore, when the pencil is 
outside of the two printed lines, each change- in direction should 
also be counted as one mistake. 







Plate III. — Star blank for mirror-drawing experiment. (Actual size 43^ X 

5 inches.) 



The star should be so placed that the starting point is towards 
S as he sees it in the mirror. If now each point is numbered from 
1 to 12 (12 being at the starting and ending point and 1 at the 
point to S's right as he sees it in the mirror), it will be found to 
make the matter of writing up the laboratory notes much easier, 
for all places on the star can thus be easily referred to. 

3. Have S trace 14 more stars in the mirror-drawing apparatus, 
making a total of 15 in all. Obtain the time for each trial. 



6 HOW DOES ONE IMPROVE IN MIRROR-DRAWING? 43 

Be sure to write on each star blank the number of the trial 
and the name of the Subject, also the time consumed in doing 
the drawing. Otherwise a gust of wind may mix up your papers 
and ruin your experiment. 

4. Have S trace another star as he did in (1) without the use 
of the mirror. 

This provides for the use of 17 star blanks; 2 are used without 
the mirror and 15 with the mirror. 

Results. — E should have recorded then, (1) the time of each 
performance, and (2) the number of false moves to be observed 
by counting the number of times the lead pencil touches or 
crosses a printed line, and the changes in direction when with- 
out the printed line. 

The learning curves. Plot both the time-records and the 
accuracy-records. Provide on the base line space for 17 trials; 
on the vertical axis space for recording up to 300 seconds. (You 
can do this by letting each horizontal line represent 5 or 10 sec- 
onds.) Remember trials 1 and 17 were made without the 
mirror; trials 2 to 16, with the mirror. Do not connect trial 1 
with 2 or 16 with 17. Connect trial 2 with 3 with 4, etc., up to 
16, using a solid line; and trial 1 with 17 using a dotted line. 

Next plot the accuracy-records. For the sake of convenience 
consider each error equivalent to a second in time and plot ac- 
cordingly. Finally plot a third curve obtained by adding 
together the seconds taken to do the trials with the number of 
errors. This curve will represent the course of learning, taking 
into account both time and accuracy combined. 

Both partners will write up the report according to the outline 
given in Lesson 4. The Results will include the material (data) 
gathered together during the experiment and also the three 
learning curves. 

Interpretation. — Under this heading note answers to the 
following questions: 

1. What changes take place when the same performance is re- 
peated a number of times? Consider (a) speed, (h) accuracy, 
and (c) the two combined. 

2. What light do the data secured when the mirror is not used 
throw upon the main results of this experiment? In other words, 
how efficiently do you suppose the Subject could come to do the 
mirror-drawing after a great deal of practice? 



44 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS |M 

Applications. — Do not fail to report some concrete examples of 
how the principles discovered in the experiment can be applied 
to your own work. 

Notes: (1) The word "data" is plural always. 

(2) As you are studying the learning process it is absolutely 
essential that S shall not practice in any way whatever between trials, else 
your data will not be complete. If a trial is performed and the time-record 
is lost, report this fact. For example, if the time-record for the 12th trial 
was lost, call it nevertheless the 12th trial, and the next trial the 13th. In 
plotting, simply connect the 11th and 13th records with a dotted line, to 
indicate that the 12th record is missing. 



LESSON 7 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LEARNING 

PROCESS 

Answers to the Questions in Lesson 6 

What changes take place when the same performance is 
repeated a number of times? Consider (a) speed, (b) accuracy, 
and (c) the two combined. 

The first drawing with the right hand in the mirror was done 
very slowly and with many mistakes. The second drawing was 
very much better, there being a noticeable decrease both in the 
time consumed and the number of mistakes made. With each 
subsequent trial there was improvement (barring certain excep- 
tions) until with the last trial we have a drawing made in very 
much less time and with few errors. In Plate IV we have three 
learning curves showing 20 trials (not 15) and based on the 
average of 18 records from men and women. Both curves A 
(accuracy) and B (speed) show rapid improvement at the start 
with smaller and smaller gains as the practice continues. The 
combined curve (C) shows the same peculiarities. 

From studying curves B and C it is apparent that if these 18 
individuals had continued the practice for more than 20 trials 
they would have improved still more. Curve A, on the other 
hand, suggests that they had reached their limit in accuracy; in 
fact, that they had reached this limit by about the 8th trial. 
(Trials 12 and 18 are actually the most accurate.) There is, 
however, another possible explanation. The instruction given 
the individuals whose average data we have before us, was pur- 
posely left indefinite as to whether speed or accuracy should 
be striven for. Their reports show, however, that most 
of them had in mind doing the task as quickly as possible, 
with a fair degree of accuracy, rather than doing the task as 
accurately as possible with a fair degree of speed. Consequently, 
the time curve shows the greater amount of improvement. It 

45 



46 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



m 



is extremely likely then that the accuracy shown in Curve A 
from the 8th to 20th trials represents to these individuals ''a 




Plate IV. — Curves showing progress of learning to draw while looking in a 

mirror. 
Curve A records errors made per trial. Curve B records time (in seconds) 
consumed per trial. Curve C records total errors and seconds per trial. 

fair degree of accuracy" — that during those trials there was 
little or no attempt to improve their accuracy. If this be true, 
further practice would eventually bring each subject to a point 



7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING PROCESS 47 

where he would reaHze that his accuracy-record was not so good 
as it might be as compared with his time-record. His general 
attitude toward the work would change then so that he would 
strive for accuracy in a way that he had not done previously. 
Following this change in attitude there would undoubtedly 
appear a series of drops in the accuracy-curve with possibly little 
or no improvement in the time-curve. Judging then from what 
we can learn from the observations of our subjects, they have 
not reached their limit of improvement in accuracy, but rather 
only a temporary limit, this temporary limit being due to their 
attitude toward the work. 

Such temporary limits are called plateaus or level places in a 
learning curve. In terms of what little we now know from this 
course about plateaus, we may define them as ''temporary limits 
to improvement." In terms of our three components Situation, 
Bond, and Response, we may say that certain details in the situation 
are not affecting the learner as they should. Because they are 
not, there is Httle or no response to them and hence no improve- 
ment in the bonds connecting those details in the situation with 
their appropriate details in the response. Later these details 
commence to affect the learner, the bonds between those details 
and their responses commence to be used and improvement 
follows. At least this was apparently the case here. The little 
irregularities in the drawn line together with various memories 
which make up our notion of accuracy, all these were not affecting 
the learner so strongly as they might. As these details were being 
reacted to only a little or not at all there was little or no chance 
for the bonds to be developed. Later these same details would 
commence to affect the learner and then there would come 
improvement in accuracy. We shall then need to add to our 
previous conceptions of a learning curve — rapid improvement 
at first with less and less improvement as time goes on — this 
notion of a plateau. Improvement may cease entirely, certainly 
as far as objective proof is concerned, for a period of time and 
then commence again. 

The plateau may be looked upon as a pecuHar kind of fluctua- 
tion or deviation from the true course of learning. It is a devia- 
tion which extends over a number of trials. The most common 
form of deviation is that which occurs very frequently in prac- 
tically all learning curves and consists in sudden up or down 



48 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

deviations from the general trend of the curve. In Plate IV, 
Curve A, we have such downward fluctuations at the 8th, 12th, 
14th, etc., trials, and an upward fluctuation at the 7th trial. 
But these fluctuations are much less frequent and much less 
prominent in Plate IV than they are in curves plotted from the 
data of just one individual. These fluctuations from trial to 
trial have already been referred to in Lesson 5, where an explana- 
tion of their cause is given. 

What light do the data secured when the mirror is not used 
throw upon the main result of this experiment? 

The data secured when the mirror is not used give us a clear 
idea of just how fast and accurately the subject can do the draw- 
ing without the mirror. The efficiency shown measures the 
strength of the old bonds formed in drawing, writing, etc., which 
function here. There is no reason to suppose that with sufficient 
practice the subject could not reach this efficiency under the new 
experimental condition. These data then give us some idea of 
the possible limit to the learning curve obtained in our twenty 
trials. But it is true that further practice without the mirror 
would lead one to draw the star in less time and more accurately. 
Consequently even this determination obtained without the 
mirror is not low enough for the final limit that might be reached 
by a vast amount of practice in the mirror. The final limit that 
an individual might reach with unlimited practice is called the 
physiological limit to the learning. It means that the physiolog- 
ical processes involved in the performance require a certain 
time and that when one reaches this limit one cannot progress 
further. It is extremely unlikely that the ordinary individual 
ever reaches his physiological limit in more than a very few simple 
processes which he has practiced vigorously a great many times. 
In most things we are very far from the limit. The world's 
record of 9^i seconds for the 100 yard dash represents the phys- 
iological limit of the best sprinter. Few, however, have ever 
reached their limit in this performance. 

The plateau, referred to above, may be thought of, then, as 
a temporary limit in distinction to the physiological limit which is 
the final permanent limit of progress. 

What applications can you make of the principles you have 
discovered to your own work? 

One of the greatest needs today in our educational work is to 



7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING PROCESS 49 

provide adequate means of registering the daily improvement of 
the students. If one can see himself improving he becomes very 
much interested and consequently does very much better work. 
The use of such curves as employed here enables a child not only 
to race against others but to race against himself. If he loafs, 
his curve shows it very clearly; if he works very hard, the curve 
registers that fact. Ordinarily only the superior children can 
obtain the thrill of winning in a scholastic race as school work 
is usually administered. But with the use of learning curves a 
dull child at the bottom of the class may experience the feeling 
of victory when he sees his curve rise. The presence or absence 
of a feeling of confidence in oneself may account for many of the 
successes or failures in life. 

As an example of just how a learning curve may be used to 
great advantage the following case supplied by Martha Carroll is 
of interest. 

^' After a year and a half of unsuccessful attempts to stimulate 
anything worthy of the name of effort in an eleven year old boy 
pupil, I decided to make an attempt at a learning curve of some 
sort. The subject being music (and violin at that) it seemed 
almost an impossibility to figure out a method by which a record 
might be kept and exact progress noted. As an exact record of 
progress made, the curve (see Plate V) is a failure, but it accom- 
plished its purpose of stimulating an effort. 

''The lessons were 45 minute periods once a week — 30 minutes 
being devoted (approximately) to the lesson assigned the previous 
week and 15 minutes to the new lesson. The record was kept 
during the period of assigned lesson only, any errors in the new 
lesson being left uncounted. 

''The understanding with the pupil was, that for every cor- 
rection I must make during the 30 minute period a mark would be 
made — these marks to be counted and stand for the grade at the 
end of the lesson. It was also agreed that no error noticed, and 
corrected by the pupil should be counted against him. The 
errors were to include those of position, intonation and rhythm — 
accuracy being the sole end in view. 

"At the first lesson where the record was kept I made 40 correc- 
tions during the 30 minutes. For the first time, the child became 
aware of the fact that he did not 'know everything about it,' and 
that he was not 'doing it right. ' He became intensely interested, 



50 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



and from then on watched like a hawk every mark made against 
him and was very soon seeing his own mistakes and correcting 
them before I had a chance to do so. 

*'The first record was made on Feb. 22, 1916, and on May 23, 
1916, the final record was made; the score having been reduced 
from 40 errors to 5 at the lowest record — and closing with a score 



misUkcs. 




40 


\ 




30 


\ 1 




10 


s 




10 


Mly- 











ji :: - 1 ;3 ::: ^ =^ ^ ^ *^ '^ ^ J3 




V JS «>- ^ 



1 



Plate V. — Curve showing progress in eliminating errors in learning to play the 

violin. 



of 10 errors. That the actual amount of progress made is not 
evident, may be seen from the fact that at the time of the last 
record fully 3 1-3 times as much ground was covered in the 30 
minutes as at the time of the first record, thus reducing consider- 
ably the percentage of errors at the final record. 

''The change was entirely one of attitude, for the amount of 
actual practice time spent between lessons was not increased. 



7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING PROCESS 51 

^'The sudden rise in the curve at the ninth record I attribute to 
a return of the original attitude of self-satisfaction."^ 

Knowledge as to how fast a child of a certain age could possibly 
add columns of figures (physiological limit) would be helpful in 
handling him, especially when his work shows that he is on a 
plateau. By this we do not mean that our ideal is to have a 
child even approximately attain his physiological limit. Far 
from it. But it would help keep us from fearing to overstrain 
the boy when what he needs is to be urged to do his best. 

Kate Anthony reports a case of an exceedingly bright boy who 
was but 9 years old but had been advanced to the 6th Grade. 
He stood at the head of his class in all matters of originality, 
initiative, and clear thinking but near the bottom in speed of 
handwriting, in drawing, and manual work. She believed his 
inability to do these latter performances as well as the average 
member of the class was due to his immaturity. An 11 or 12 year 
old boy is physically stronger and more dexterous than a 9 year 
old boy, just because he is two or three years older. And this 
difference is great enough so that a 9 year old bright boy is 
seriously handicapped in competing with an average 12 year old. 
If Anthony's conception is correct, i. e., that her 9 year old boy 
was doing poor work in manual training just because he was too 
young, then there was no need of worry about his poor performance. 
He was doing as well as could be expected of a 9 year old, although 
it was not 6th Grade work. But if she is wrong and he did poor 
work because he was not interested or not gifted along these lines, 
then extra effort should be put forth to get him to do better. An 
exact knowledge of what different aged boys could do and what 
they naturally do in manual training would help her here in 
determining how to handle him. 

Mary McGahey found it impossible to improve Carl's arith- 
metic work as to speed. He was a 6th Grade pupil and did good 
work but did not solve simple arithmetical problems as fast as he 
should. The fact that McGahey knew that his rate of work was 
much below what an average boy could do made her realize 
that Carl was on a plateau which was far from being his physio- 

^ A very good example of how such methods have been utilized in indus- 
trial work is recorded by R. B. Wolf in The Creative Workman, published by 
the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry. See also, J. Q. 
O'Brien, Silent Reading, 1921, for extensive use of this device in teaching. 



52 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

logical limit. This made her realize that something was wrong 
and that it ''was up to her" to find it. Finally she noticed that 
he tapped twice before commencing to solve the simple combina- 
tions as 

4 8 7 4 

2 , 3 , 1 , 0, etc. On calling his attention to the matter 

and then reproving him every time he did tap, she quickly broke 
him of the habit. As a result he increased his rate of work 
50% in a few hours' time. If McGahey had not known (1) 
what a child of Carl's age ought to do and (2) that he was 
making no progress, she would probably have never discovered 
the tapping and so never have trained him to do arithmetic 
problems at an efficient rate. (The tapping is undoubtedly a 
survival of an earlier habit of counting by making dashes on 
paper, instead of with one's fingers. Apparently Carl on finish- 

4 
ing writing 6 as the answer of 2 had to tap twice before com- 

8 
mencing to think what 3 meant. Under such a method he had 

pretty nearly reached his physiological limit. When the tap- 
ping was eliminated he was able to think the answer 11 to 
8 
3 while writing the 6 and so could write continuously the answers 

to these problems, working out the answers ahead of where he was 
writing.) 1 

In Plates VI and VII are given the learning curves of four chil- 
dren (C, D, G, and H) when tested with simple addition and 
multiplication combinations. (The test blanks are shown on 
pages 152 and 153.) The records show how many combina- 
tions were performed correctly in one minute on fifteen different 
days. C gained twelve problems in addition in eight days and 
D thQ same number in five days, both completing the blank of 
eighty combinations in two minutes. G, on the other hand, 

' Kate Anthony, Mary L. McGahey, Edward K. Strong, Jr. The Develop- 
ment of Proper Attitudes Toward School Work. School and Society, Dec. 25, 
1915, p. 926ff. 



7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING PROCESS 53 

gained but two problems in fifteen days and H none in the same 
time. In multiplication C gained twenty-four problems; D, 
twenty-four problems (in fourteen days), G, nine problems/ and 
H, sixteen problems. 



Hiii^Otr »\ Prtblfrnt Cert<ct 




Plate VI. 



-Learning curves of C and D in simple addition (shown by the solid 
line) and multiplication (shown by the broken line). 



Learning curves such as produced by C and D are typical of 
bright capable children while those curves produced by G and H 
are typical of children who stand near the bottom of their class. 
The curves of G are the poorest from the point of initial score or 
slope. This child never belonged in the 4th Grade and so 
dropped out of the school as there was no room for him in the 



54 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



10 



T 



3rd Grade. His curves show markedly inferior knowledge of 
addition and multiplication and that he cannot learn rapidly. 
In fact he learns more slowly than other children in the same 
grade. There is then no chance of his catching up with his class. 
Instead he is going to be left farther and farther behind. 

Httmatr ff Froblfn^ C$tr*<i 
40 



iS 



30 



is 



zo 




H 



iO 



,S 

Tr'nh 



10 



Plate VII.- — Learning curves of G and H in simple addition (shown by the solid 
line) and multiplication (shown by the broken line). 

H's addition curve is very striking and unusual. As she 
improved in multiplication she lost in addition. In this instance 
there was a clear case of interference, i. e., the habit of ''seeing 
4X3 and thinking 12" was interfering with the habit of ''seeing 
4 + 3 and thinking 7." She continued in this condition for 
some time afterwards. Later in the year she was put through 



7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING PROCESS 55 

another practice series. The addition again showed an interfer- 
ence effect from the multiphcation. In time she overcame this 
interference and eventually after three months of individual drill 
reached a speed of 40 problems in one minute in both addition 
and multiplication and a good speed in subtraction and column 
addition. But she has shown no ability to solve ordinary prob- 
lems in arithmetic. A year later she was given these tests 
again. Her records were excellent, showing she had retained 
most of what she had learned. But her performance in more 
complicated arithmetic work was extremely poor. She never 
succeeded in solving problems requiring any original thinking. 



LESSON 8 

RELATIONSHIP OF METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEEL- 
ING TO LEARNING 

Some of the more obvious laws of learning have been presented. 
We are now ready to attempt a more careful study of less appar- 
ent factors. 

What happens when we change our method of doing a certain 
task — say of playing golf, of going from the sight to touch method 
in typewriting, or discovering a new way to solve originals 
in geometry? Do our feelings affect our work? We think 
they do : but do they really do so ? Does the man that is confi- 
dent do better than the man that is fearful? If so, why? 
Mirror-drawing Experiment (repeated) 

Problem. — What factors are involved in learning Mirror- 
Drawing? 

Apparatus. — Mirror-Drawing Outfit; 10 six-pointed star blanks; 
watch. 

Procedure. — E should here be the S of the 6th class-hour and 
S the E of that exercise. Follow the general procedure of the 
6th class-hour, but here S should only draw with the right hand 
in the mirror. 

The emphasis is not upon completing 10 drawings hut upon 
obtaining as detailed an idea of how one learns as is possible. 
Consequently after each drawing, S should note down every fact 
that occurs to him regarding his method of doing the work, the 
ideas that came to him while doing the drawing, his attitude 
toward the work, his feelings, etc. E should also record changes 
in method which he notes in S, changes in feeling or attitude 
toward the work, etc. Note down, for example, every sigh or j 
exclamation of impatience, and ascertain if there is any relation I 
between its occurrence and success or failure. ' 

Results. — E should have recorded, (1) the time of each per- 
formance, (2) the number of errors in each drawing, and (3) 
the observations of both S and E accompanying each performance. 

56 



8 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING 57 

Draw three curves as in the 6th class-hour experiment. 

Questions. — (1) What changes take place when the same 
performance is repeated a number of times? Consider (a) 
differences in method or ''mode of attack," (6) differences in 
attitude toward the work, (c) differences in feeling and emotion. 

2. How do such changes affect the changes in speed and 
accuracy? 

3. How are improvements hit upon? Were they (a) acci- 
dental, (b) partly understood, or (c) thoroughly understood 
beforehand? 

Applications. — AVhat applications can you make of the laws 
you have discovered here to your work? 

Write up this experiment and hand it in at the next class-hour. 



LESSON 9 

RELATIONSHIP OF METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEEL- 
ING TO LEARNING (continued) 

What Changes Take Place When the Same Performance 
IS Repeated a Number of Times 

Method or "Mode of Attack." — There are a number of differ- 
ent methods of doing the mirror-drawing. Most individuals 
learn through trying this thing and then that. Here and there is 
an individual who utilizes his knowledge of physics and figures 
out how his movements should be made. But in even these 
cases there is considerable of the "try this, try that" perform- 
ance. Then again, most individuals direct the movement very 
largely by the eye. But occasionally an individual initiates each 
new movement in terms of the relationship of his pencil to his 
little finger. If he desires to move toward his little finger (de- 
termined through vision) he then moves his forefinger and thumb 
toward his little finger — the guidance being in terms of finger- 
movements, not in terms of vision. The eye is used in this case 
simply to record the general direction desired and to guide the 
pencil between the two red lines. 

As practice continues the individual may steadily improve on 
the details of his procedure or he may from time to time try 
other methods. In the latter case he may return to his first 
method or he may abandon it entirely. There is no general 
rule to be laid down as to the course of these changes. Each 
individual should, however, endeavor to ascertain as accurately 
as he may just what changes did take place in his own case. 

Attitude toward the Work. — Ruger^ calls attention to three 
different general attitudes toward one's work. He calls them 
(1) the self-attentive attitude, (2) the suggestible attitude, and 
(3) the problem attitude. 

The self-attentive attitude is illustrated by him by this extract 

1 H. A. Ruger, The Psychology of Efficiency, 1910, p. 3Gff. 

59 



60 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

from a man's account of how he solved a puzzle. ^'It seemed to 
me that if anybody had given it to me without saying that it was 
a puzzle (a bona fide one) I would have said it was impossible up 
to the last minute. I have a feeling now of loss of esteem. I 
had this all along because I couldn't do something which was 
made for people with ordinary brains to do. One conclusion 
that kept running through my mind all the time was that I had a 
subordinate mind. I couldn't help having a gleeful, self-satisfied 
feeling when it actually seemed to be coming off, although it was 
a surprise." 

Individuals possessed with this self -attentive attitude expressed 
themselves as being afraid that the experimenter was getting 
bored because they were slow, or that he would think them 
extremely stupid, etc. The principal thing, then, that occupied 
the minds of people with this attitude was the concern as to their 
general fitness and as to what others would think of them. 

The Suggestible Attitude. — Ruger says, "In two of the men 
there seemed to be a special sensitiveness toward any movements 
of the operator which might give an indication as to the course- 
to be pursued. In such cases as this there is a lack of confidence 
in the self but the attention is directed not to the self but to some 
other person. The center of gravity, if one may so describe it, 
of the responsibility is located elsewhere and the suggestions, 
intentional or unintentional, of the other person or persons con- 
cerned are accepted uncritically. This tendency was noted by 
the writer in his own case in novel situations of a more distinctly 
social type, such as business transactions of an unaccustomed 
sort, or other similar cases where persons instead of things were 
to be dealt with and where the other person was felt to have 
superior information as to the matter in hand and the self to be 
deficient." 

Probably all have experienced this attitude when attempting to 
do something new while in the presence of others. This is 
particularly true when those present are known to know more 
about the task than oneself. Their presence bothers us; very 
often we make mistakes that we know we would not make if we 
had been alone. Here our attention is directed even more 
toward those who are present than to the work before us. And at 
such times we are especially susceptible to any indications from 
these persons as to whether we are doing well or poorly. 



9 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING (CONTINUED) 61 

The Problem Attitude. — ''In contradistinction to these two 
attitudes, which are certainly not favorable to efficiency," this 
third attitude is essentially an attitude of self-confidence. ''The 
self-confidence is not one of sluggish complacency, however, but 
is expressed in a high level of intellectual activity, of attention. 
Attention would be directed to the thing to be done rather than 
to appraisal of the self." 

In this particular experiment undoubtedly most subjects had 
somewhat of the self-attentive attitude, or the suggestible atti- 
tude, or both to start with. And as practice continued the 
earlier attitude faded out more and more and the problem attitude 
took its place. Occasionally a subject displays only the problem 
attitude throughout the practice period. And occasionally 
also a subject continues to show the self-attentive attitude 
throughout, but this is rather rare. Usually there is a noticeable 
change toward the adoption of the problem attitude. 

Some of the factors that bring about this change in attitude are 
the realization that one is improving, that one can do the task, 
that another is doing it successfully, etc. But sometimes the 
latter factor reacts in just the opposite way. Later on in this 
course, we shall return to this subject of attitude towards one's 
work, and endeavor to discover the causes of these attitudes and 
the ways in which the third attitude may be substituted for the 
first two. In the meantime accumulate what information you 
can on the subject, as it is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems 
a real teacher has to face — the problem of making boys and girls 
and men and women really self-confident about their work. 

Feeling. — Feeling is technically either pleasant or unpleasant. 
Besides these two aspects of feeling there are the emotions of 
fear, hate, love, anger, etc. It is not likely that a real emotion 
is aroused in this experiment, except that of anger, and only then 
in the case of a few individuals. 

During the first few trials the work did not go smoothly. One 
realized that he took altogether too much time in doing the 
drawing and that there were too many mistakes. Continued 
failure to accomplish what is desired always is accompanied by 
an unpleasant feeling. If this is continued too long anger will 
arise. But as the practice progressed, the work became easier, 
fewer mistakes were made, and the whole drawing took less 
time. With each improvement there came less and less of 



62 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



unpleasantness and more and more of pleasantness. So after 
a time the original feeling of unpleasantness changed over to 
pleasantness. Then one was really interested in the task. 

As practice is continued, however, the improvement becomes 
less and less (refer again to Plates I and IV). The novelty of the 
task disappears, and thoughts come to mind of more interesting 
or of more valuable performances that one might be doing if it 
weren't for this required task. The inability to carry out these 
performances because of the mirror-drawing may then bring 
again into consciousness unpleasant feelings. Whether one does 
then change from a pleasant to an unpleasant feeling-attitude 
toward the task at the close of the experiment will depend on the 
interplay of the pleasantness associated with the continued 
improvement versus the unpleasantness due to physical fatigue, 
inability to do other things, etc. 

Even if one does thus swing from unpleasantness to pleasant- 
ness, and then back to unpleasantness again, one is very apt to 
discover that the last two or three trials bring pleasantness again 
to mind. Especially is this true of the last trial. 

(Are these changes in feeling typical of all learning? If so, to 
what extent should a teacher pay attention to them as shown in 
his students? How might the second change from pleasantness 
to unpleasantness be avoided? If these changes are not typical 
of all learning, how do they differ here from other examples of 
learning?) 



How Do Changes in Method, Attitude or Feeling Affect 
THE Changes in Speed and Accuracy? 

It is pretty clear that the changes in speed and accuracy pro- 
duce very profound changes in method, attitude, and feeling. 
It is a fair question to ask, on the other hand, if the latter changes 
affect speed and accuracy. If they do not, it is immaterial 
whether the learner has a self-attentive attitude or a problem 
attitude, whether he is in a pleasant or unpleasant mood. 

Changes in method profoundly affect speed and accuracy'. 
Even such slight changes as from clutching the pencil as if life 
depended on it to holding it naturally result in less fatigue and 
consequently in smoother lines and less unpleasantness. When 



1 



9 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING (CONTINUED) 63 

careful notes are kept it is often very easy to see that with a 
change in method there has come decided changes in speed or 
accuracy. In fact from a study of the time-curve and the accu- 
racy-curve one may often be able to check up the introspections 
(an introspection is technically an observation of one's own 
mental processes) of the subject as to just when he commenced 
to emphasize one of these elements more and the other less. 

From our analysis of the three attitudes one may have toward 
his work, it is clear that one is reacting in the first two cases not 
only to the details of the mirror-drawing itself but to other 
details which have nothing to do with the task in hand — details 
such as one's feelings, one's estimate of himself, the movements 
of the experimenter, etc. As one can only be affected by a 
certain number of details, the elimination of these useless details 
may make it possible for another detail in the mirror-drawing 
task to affect one. If this new detail is the one that must be 
reacted to before further progress may be made, then the change 
in attitude may bring about an improvement not otherwise 
possible. This is just what we all have noticed many times. 
Worry, excitement, thoughts of ourselves and others prevent 
the really important details for the solution of our work from 
coming into play. The problem attitude represents then that 
attitude under which we are less affected by unimportant details. 
The other two attitudes represent conditions of work when certain 
unimportant details are being reacted to and necessarily other 
important attitudes are not being reacted to. 

How ARE Improvements Hit upon? Are They (A) 
Accidental, (B) Partly Understood, or (C) Thor- 
oughly Understood? 

Observations from different individuals vary greatly upon this 
subject. One individual may proceed very slowly and observe 
very carefully what is to be done and just what he is doing and 
slowly develop the proper method for doing the experiment. In 
his case there will be a noticeable number of "planned out" 
movements. Another individual may make no ''planned" 
movements at all, at least as far as he is able to report the matter. 
All that such an individual is aware of is that he kept trying first 
one way, then another, in apparently a very aimless sort of way 



64 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

and that as time went on he came to realize that he was doing 
better and better. Moreover, from time to time he also came to 
realize that he was doing this particular part of the work in this 
particular sort of a way. For example, that when from the 
mirror it seemed as though he should move his hand away from 
his body he then moved his hand toward his body. But the 
significant part of this discovery lies in the fact that he was 
already more or less successfully making this movement toward 
his body when it looked as though he should move the hand 
away from him before he was conscious of the matter. That is, 
the improvement was hit upon apparently accidentally and later 
it became understood. (A few paragraphs below we shall come 
to see that the improvement was not hit upon accidentally, but 
was the true resultant of what had gone before, but for the present 
we may think of it as accidental.) 

The types of learning illustrated by these two individuals 
appear at first hand to be very different. The first individual 
plans out his work, the second hits upon it ''accidentally." 
In one sense they are very different. The former represents the 
highest type of human learning, whereas the latter represents 
the lowest type — a type common to both human beings and to 
animals. But when these two are carefully studied we discover 
that they only differ in degree, not in kind. Although it is 
true that the first individual ''planned" out some of his methods 
and movements, yet he did not plan out all of them. Many of 
them, usually the great majority of them, he first unconsciously 
learned how to do and then later discovered that he was doing 
them. We shall want to characterize the learning of these two 
typical individuals by saying that the second unconsciously 
learned nearly or entirely all that he did and later became aware 
of part of what he was doing, whereas the first consciously planned 
out a few of his movements before starting to do them while 
learning the rest in the same way that the second individual 
acquired' his. 

Learning to do a task similar to mirror-drawing is largely 
characterized by the unconscious development of movements 
which, after they have become fairly well established, are likely 
to become consciously noticed. Such learning has been called 
trial and error learning. The expression is not a good one, but it 
has been widely used by writers on this subject. The essential 



9 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING (CONTINUED) 65 

characteristic of this sort of learning is that we do not have at 
hand a suitable movement (response) to the situation. In 
terms of situation, -bond and response, there is no bond existing 
between the situation confronting the learner and the correct 
response. For example, at point 3 on the star-blank one must 
proceed towards 4 (situation). To do so one must make certain 
movements (response.) In order to do so the situation and the 
response must be connected by a bond. Such bonds cannot be 
formed voluntarily. The only way open is to try one movement 
after another until the right movement is hit upon. Every 
time an improper movement is tried it is checked immediately 
since it leads the pencil in a wrong direction. On the other hand, 
every time the correct movement is tried it is not checked but 
allowed to continue. In this way eventually the situation is 
tied up with the correct response, inasmuch as the bond connect- 
ing the two has been used more than any other. The selection of 
this correct movement is not' consciously done. It becomes con- 
sciously known x)nly after it is fairly well developed. 

This type of learning might be illustrated roughly in this way. 
Suppose P and Q, who is blindfolded, are standing in the middle 
of a recently harrowed field, or one covered with snow. P 
determines just to which part of the field he wants Q to go but 
he doesn't tell him. Q is to discover this point by keeping walk- 
ing, agreeing to change his direction whenever P calls out 
''change" and to keep going when P says nothing. Now when 
Q starts he is as likely to go one way as another. The conse- 
quence is that he will start a number of times and because they 
are wrong P will so signal and Q will stop and start again. The 
snow about the starting point will become all trampled because 
of these starts and stops. But presently Q will hit upon the 
correct direction, P will no longer signal to stop and Q will con- 
tinue in the desired direction. If he walks in a straight line he 
will presently reach the desired point. If he doesn't P will signal 
to change and Q will then make a few stops and starts, finally 
hitting on the correct direction again. In this way Q will 
finally reach the desired point. He has reached it through 
starting many incorrect movements which were immediately 
checked and then continuing the correct movement whenever 
hit upon. Now suppose P and Q start over again. The process 
will be largely the same as before. But as it will be easier walking 

5 



66 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

wherever Q has traveled before, Q will be much more likely to 
continue in old paths than to make new ones. And as the correct 
direction is the only one that continues for any distance Q will 
be aided by it much more than by the little short paths that lead 
in the wrong direction. Still on the second trial Q's guidance 
will come essentially from P's signals. As P and Q keep up this 
stunt, the correct path will become better and better formed and 
Q will gradually come to rely on it more and more and to need 




P'fi signals less and less. After a certain number of trials it is 
likely that Q could traverse the distance with no mistakes, 
utilizing the well-worn pathway as a guide instead of the signals 
of P. 

All learning consists in forming a new situation-bond-response 
combination. In forming such a new combination we must start 
with some already formed combinations as a starting point. In 
the case of drawing line 1-2 in the mirror we start with the com- 
bination of situation (direction toward one) and response (move- 
ment of hand toward body) , indicated in the diagram by S 1 and R 1 . 
But the response Rl is incorrect. Many other movements (R2- 
R8) are attempted. Each is checked immediately. Finally 
movement R9 (which is to move hand away from body) is com- 
menced; it is not checked, and so is continued until 2 is reached. 
The old customary habit, situation (direction toward one ) 
response (movement of hand toward body) has thus been modi- 
fied so that we now have a new habit, i. e., situation (direction 
toward one) response (movement of hand away from body). 
R9 has been substituted for Rl as the response to SI. After a 
number of stars have been drawn this new habit will then com- 
mence to function efficiently. It will do so because the bond 
connecting SI and R9 has reached a certain degree of strength. 



9 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING (CONTINUED) 67 

Why should the nervous current discharge over the pathway 
to Ri, then to R2, etc., instead of continuing to discharge over Ri? 
There are two explanations. First, it seems that after the dis- 
charge of current over a pathway there is required a very short 
interval of time before the nerve cells are in condition to discharge 
energy again. This factor accordingly tends to divert the current 
to some other pathway than the one just active. And second, 
when the discharge does not produce the desired response, when 
there is a blocking of a discharge in any way, an increased amount 
of current is released. This phenomenon is called overflow of 
energy. This is easily demonstrated when one tries to solve a 
puzzle — one becomes more and more excited and exasperated 
as repeated attempts fail. One sees the same thing illus- 
trated in mowing the lawn. When the lawn mower is jammed, 
one pushes and pushes, rather than stops and cleans out the stick 
or clump of grass from between the knife-edges. Only when the 
pushing fails does one resort to the rationally more sensible 
procedure. It is very likely that this is largely responsible for the 
formation of the new bond, for the excess energy discharges over 
all manner of pathways, including those of very high resistance, 
and so operates to make them more easily used next time. 

The reason we ''hit upon" the proper movements ''accident- 
ally" and later become conscious of them is apparently that until 
a bond has reached a certain degree of strength we are not capable 
of being aware of it. When it finally has reached this degree of 
strength through use, we then suddenly realize just what we are 
doing. In terms of the snow field scene Q will not at first notice 
that he follows his former footsteps in preference to walking 
through unbroken snow. After a time, however, the difference 
in ease of walking along a path as compared with walking through 
the snow is forced upon him. After that he is as much influenced 
by this detail of the situation as by P's signals. And in the 
mirror-drawing experiment the subject at first doesn't know how 
he gets from point 1 to 2. After a time, however, he realizes that 
to go to 2 from 1 you move in the opposite direction from what 
you want to, or he may not reach such a generalization but tell 
you that he disregards what he sees and allows his fingers to 
guide the movement. In the first case he has clearly in mind 
what he is doing. In the latter he is more in the stage of Q 
when he has just commenced to pay attention to the feeling of 



68 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

path versus no path without thinking particularly about the 
meaning of this difference. 

Let us return now to the original question: — ''How are 
improvements hit upon? Were they (a) accidental, (b) partly 
understood, or (c) thoroughly understood?" Fundamentally we 
have in such a type of problem as this mirror-drawing experiment 
a case where an old situation-bond-response combination is 
modified so as to give us a new response to the same situation. 
Whenever the response is changed there results movements 
more or less of the 'Hrial and error" type, i. e., the starting of 
many incorrect movements which are immediately checked and 
the final development of the correct movement through its being 
allowed to continue. In all such cases the correct movement will 
be ''hit upon" just as "accidentally" as are any of the incorrect 
movements. Its first use is "accidental." Its second, third, 
fourth, etc., uses are also accidental. But eventually the bond 
connecting the situation and the new response reaches a certain 
degree of strength and the process becomes a conscious one. 
The normal thing is for improvements to be hit upon first and 
later to become consciously known. 

But there are cases where we do consciously plan out the move- 
ment before we commence making any movements at all. These 
are cases which we shall study more intensively later under the 
headings of reasoning and transfer of training. It is sufficient 
now to say that in these cases the subject has experienced some- 
where else in life some situation similar to the one now confront- 
ing him and that he now makes use of some of that experience in 
this case. For example, a subject who has previously studied 
physics may have learned the principle that vertical lines are 
inverted as they appear in a mirror but not horizontal lines. 
This principle may have been connected up as a response to the 
situation "mirror." Now when confronted with the mirror in 
this experiment, the mirror detail of the whole situation in the 
experiment calls to mind the physical law. The law then becomes 
an added detail to this subject's entire situation. He acts in 
terms not only of the situation as other subjects perceive it but 
also in terms of this detail — the physical law. And acting in 
terms of the law he has little or no trouble with the vertical and 
horizontal lines in the experiment. This statement must be 
modified somewhat, however. It is true he will have less trouble 



9 METHOD, ATTITUDE AND FEELING (CONTINUED) 69 

than the average individual if he has in mind the physical law. 
But he will have still considerable trouble, unless in his physics 
course or somewhere else he has actually drawn objects as seen in 
a mirror. When one must make a new movement in response 
to a situation one can only learn to make it by doing it and this 
doing involves ^' trial and error." If he has not had this experi- 
ence, he will profit by knowing the law because he will much more 
quickly check the wrong movements since he will have a guide in 
not only what is seen but also in what is felt in the hands. Know- 
ing that he must move his hands away from him in going from 
1 to 2, he will feel in his hands that he is going wrong as soon as he 
moves in any other way. 

REFERENCES 

On The Mirror-drawing Experiment 

D. Starch, A Demonstration of the Trial and Error Method in Learning. 
Psychol Bull, Jan. 1910, p. 20ff. 

G. M. Whipple, Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, 1915, Vol. II, 
p. 485ff. 

On The Learning Process 

Bryan and Harter, Studies in the Physiology and Psychology of the 
Telegraphic Language. Psychol Rev., 1897 and 1899, IV. p. 27if and VI. 
p. 345ff. 

W. F. Book, The Psychology of Skill, 1908. 

H. A. Ruger, The Psychology of Efficiency, Archives of Psychology, 
No. 15, 1910. Note especially p. 36ff. 

Ladd & Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, Part II, Chapter VIII. 

E. L. Thomdike, Educational Psychology, 1913. Vol.11. 



LESSON 10 
HOW DOES ONE LEARN A VOCABULARY? 

Is the learning of a vocabulary an entirely different perform- 
ance from the learning of handwriting? Or are there certain parts 
of each that are more or less similar? What are the processes 
involved in memorizing a vocabulary? Is there a one ''best" 
method for all individuals or are there different methods which 
are best adapted to different individuals? 

In this experiment E will pronounce a Spanish word and S will 
be expected to give the English equivalent. If he can't E will 
prompt him and a little later try him again. As the promptings 
continue S will gradually learn the vocabulary. Devote your 
time and ingenuity in this experiment to discovering how S 
learns the pairs of words. In some cases S will frankly not know, 
in other cases he will say the sound suggested the English word, 
in other cases he will have other answers. Endeavor to discover 
as accurately as possible just how S learned each pair. 

A few students, particularly men, take an inordinate amount of 
time to learn their vocabulary. Yet if there were a thousand 
dollars at stake they could do the task in a few minutes. Do not 
allow a wrong attitude to interfere with your work. Get it 
done quickly. 

The Experiment 

Problem. — How does one learn a Spanish-English vocabulary? 

Apparatus. — E receives from the instructor a list of 25 Spanish- 
English words, which S is to commit to memory. (If S knows 
Spanish E should report this fact to the instructor and secure a 
vocabulary in some other language.) 

Procedure. — (1) E prepares a tally sheet similar to the model 
(Plate VIII) and fills in the list of Spanish and English words to 
be learned. 

2. E supplies S with a list of the Spanish words (but not the 
English words) which S will keep before him as his prompting 
list. 

70 



10 



HOW DOES ONE LEARN A VOCABULARY? 



71 



3. Trial 1. E will read aloud to S the Spanish words and their 
English equivalents at the approximate rate of one pair every 
three seconds. S will follow with his eyes the Spanish words on 
his list during the reading and will endeavor to memorize the 
pairs as they are read. He will not write down the English words. 

This first trial has, of course, 25 promptings since E read to S 
each Spanish word and its English equivalent. Accordingly 
record an ''x" in column 1 of the tally sheet opposite each of 
the 25 pairs of words. 

4. Trial 2. S pronounces the first Spanish word on his list and 
attempts to give its English equivalent, (a) If he succeeds, then 
stop until you have written down S's explanation of how he came 
to connect the Spanish and English words together. Record 
these observations in detail because they are the results you are 
especially interested in obtaining in this experiment. When 
this is done S pronounces the second Spanish word and attempts 
to give its English equivalent, etc. 

(6) If S gives an incorrect English word, write that word in 
cohmm 2 opposite the appropriate Spanish word. Prompt S as 
to what the correct English word is. Then have S pronounce the 
next Spanish word and attempt to give its English equivalent, etc. 



List the 
Spanish words 
in this column 


List the 
English equiva- 
lents in this 
column 


Tally below in the appropriate columns 
the promptings needed and errors made by 
S in learning the vocabulary 






1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

etc. 

24. 

25. 


• 


X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 






















Total number of promptings 


25 





















Plate VIII. — Showing blank to be used by E for recording promptings and 

mistakes. 



72 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(c) If S makes no reply within 5 seconds after pronouncing the 
Spanish word, mark an '^x" in column 2 opposite the appropriate 
Spanish word and then prompt S as to the correct English word. 
S pronounces the next Spanish word and so continues. 

Repeat the above procedure with each Spanish word in the list. 
In this way you ascertain whether S has learned the English 
equivalent for any of the Spanish words after one prompting 
(your first reading), and if so, how he learned it. And further- 
more, you have a record of (a) how many English equivalents 
were given correctly; (6) how many were given incorrectly; 
(c) in how many cases no reply was made. 

5. Trial 3. Repeat the above procedure for trial 3. Continue 
with trial after trial until S can give correctly the English equiva- 
lent to each of the 25 Spanish words without error and without 
waiting more than 5 seconds in any case. 

6. If you still have time try this additional experiment. After 
S has recited the Spanish-English pairs correctly, have him start 
at the bottom of the list and call out the English equivalents as 
before, reading up the list, instead of down. Continue until S 
can recite the list correctly. What additional light does this 
experiment throw on the whole problem of learning a vocabulary? 

Results. — (1) Count up the number of promptings (the number 
of ''x's" plus the number of English words which were incorrectly 
given in each column) and record the totals at the bottom of each 
column. Plot a prompting-curve. 

2. Record all the facts you have marshalled as to how one 
earns a vocabulary. 

Interpretation. — Answer the following questions and give any 
other conclusions of interest here. 

1. How does the learning curve based on promptings compare 
with the learning curves obtained in learning the alphabet and 
mirror-drawing? 

2. In what different ways did S learn the Spanish-English 
pairs of words? What seem to be the general laws underlying 
such learning? Are these laws similar to or different from those 
related to learning mirror-drawing? 

Application. — How might these methods be cultivated? 
Where else could the same methods be utilized? 

Hand in your write-up of this experiment at the next class- 
hour. 



LESSON 11 

THE LEARNING PROCESS INVOLVED IN COMMITTING 
TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 

A foreign word may become associated with an English word 
in two different ways. It may be learned through simple repeti- 
tion, or it may be learned through the intermediation of one or 
more steps. Take the case of the German word ^'hund" and its 
English equivalent ^'dog." Some individuals will come to 
know that ''hund" means '^dog" by simple repetition of the 
two words together. Other individuals, when confronted with 
'^hund," will think '^hound" and then ''dog." When the inter- 
mediate step is employed the combination ''hund-dog" may be 
learned with one repetition and may then function satisfactorily 
throughout life. When the purely repetitive method is employed 
the combination may only be learned after a number of repetitions 
and even then may not function a few days later. 

Consider a second illustration. The Chinese symbol # stands 
for "si well of water." If one were engaged in committing a 
Chinese-English vocabulary, particularly at the commencement 
of the course in Chinese, it is most likely that the combination 
would be learned according to the first method indicated above — 
through sheer repetition of the two together. However, if one 
was instructed by his teacher, that the symbol # was derived 



originally from 
been gradually 
symbol stood 



and that the four outside lines had 
dropped, and also that the original 
pictorially for a small cluster of 



houses nnn about a common well, then it is quite 
likely Q O D that one would need but this simple instruction 
(this nnn one repetition ) in order to retain for life the 
combination "# — ^well."* 

* The above explanation of the symbol is not technically correct but it is 
the conception that Annie E. Bradshaw used in learning the symbol. The 
correct explanation is recorded here as given by C. W. Luh. It is of interest 
in this connection, as it shows how through associations a term o])tains new 

73 



74 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Learning through Sheer Repetition — Stimulus Sub- 
stitution 

'Consider the fundamental process involved in learning "hund- 
dog" through sheer repetition or rote memory. We start with 
the abilities: — • 

1. To pronounce *'hund" when we see the printed word 
*'hund," 

2. To pronounce ''dog" when we see the printed word ''dog," 

3. To call to mind a considerable number of words after seeing 
the word "dog," such as, "Toby," "animal," four-legs," "white," 
"black," "yellow," "cur," etc. All of these latter combinations 
have been developed through experience and go to make up as a 
complex whole our complex thought "dog." It is quite likely 
when we see the word "dog" and say "dog," that there is a more 
or less simultaneous commencement of the processes to say 
many or all of the others also. 

Such abilities do not impress us as adults. But if we stop to 
think a moment we realize that small children can not do these 
seemingly simple things; hence, we must have learned them at 
some time. 

It may be that we have never pronounced "hund" after 
seeing the word. But we are able to do so because of the exist- 
ence of still simpler abilities which we possess, namely: — 

meanings. This word, **well," is derived from an ancient hieroglyph. 
The square in the middle represents the mouth of the square rail of the well. 
Around it are walls slanting towards the ground. The resemblance is more 
remarkable when we write the word in an older style, like 
The "well system." During the Dynasty of West Chau 
(1122-769 B. C.) the land tax was paid in community labor. 
Each square (about 
nine allotments, like 
land, the products 



# 



}4 sq. mi.) was divided into 
The middle square was public 
of which supported the central govern- 
ment. Eight families were assigned to the farmsteads around it, and they 
worked on it as they did their own farms. The arrangement of the farms, 
with their fences and pathways looks just hke the word (#). So we have 
come to call it the "well system." "For a time, it was a very effective 
method, and the management of these farms became a byword for order 
and cleanliness. So the word became an adjective. In rhetoric we double 
it (# #) and this means Very orderly.' " 



11 COMMITTING TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 75 

1. To pronounce *'h" when we see the letter ''h/' 

2. To pronounce ''und" when we see the letters ''und/' 

3. To connect up the two sounds into one word, i. e., "hund." 

The more we fall back upon these simpler abilities when attempt- 
ing to pronounce ''hund" the first time the more slowly and with 
the more hesitancy will we pronounce the word, coupled with an 
increase in speed and confidence with successive trials. That 
this point may be better appreciated, watch yourself master the 
pronunciation of the following words: ''handworterbuch," equi- 
librating,'' '^concaturating." 

Having disposed of the problem of pronouncing ''hund" when 
we see the printed word '^hund," let us restate what we have to 
start with in the form of a diagram. 

Situation Response 

(1) seeing "hund" > pronouncing "hund" 

(2) seeing "dog" > pronouncing "dog" 

(3) seeing "dog" -^ thinking "Toby" 

(4) seeing "dog" > thinking "animal" 

etc. 

The problem is to connect the situation (seeing word ''hund") 
with the existing responses to ''seeing dog," i. e., to connect 
with the first situation in the above table the responses to the 
second, third, fourth, etc., situations. In terms of a diagram the 
problem is to develop the dotted line below : — • 

Situation Response Secondary Rseponsb 

seeing "hund" ^pronouncing "hund" 

seeing "dog" — ^^— ^pronouncing "dog" ^:^:— -^thinking "Toby" 

thinking "animal" 
thinking "cur" 
\, etc. 

It is apparent from our experience in the experiment of Lesson 
10 that a new connection or bond, such as indicated by the 
dotted line above, can be developed by mere repetition. 
Expressed in a more general way we have : — 

Situation 1 t:::^^ > Response 1 

Situation 2 — ^^^^^-^ Response 2 

with the generalization that repetition of SI — Rl and S2 — R2 




76 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

results in the formation of a new bond SI — R2. (Theoretically, 
two new bonds tend to be formed, i. e., *S^ — R2 and S2' — Rl. 
Practically, one only is formed. Which one of the two is formed 
depends upon the relative satisfaction to the learner from the 
two different responses.) 

One of the classical experiments illustrating this law was per- 
formed by the Russian psychologist, Pawlow. He rigged up an 
apparatus on a dog to measure the flow of saliva. Then he 
showed the dog a bone and at the same time gave him an electrical 
shock. In diagrammatic form: — 

1. Electrical shock ) 1. Skin withdrawn from contact. 

2. Presence of bone ) 2. Increased flow of saliva. 

After a number of such repetitions, the bone was no longer shown 
and it was found that the saliva flowed in response to the electrical 
shock just as it had originally done in response to seeing the 
bone. The experiment thus demonstrated the development of 
the new bond.^ 

Situation 1, electrical shock — > Response 2, saliva flows. ' 

In this case R2 (flow of saliva) is more satisfying than Rl (with- 
drawal of skin from contact) and so the connecting SI — R2 
was formed. 

Now in order to be sure that the reader understands not only 
the nature of stimulus substitution but also that that is the 
principle of learning underlying what is popularly meant by rote 
memory, let us analyze another case. Suppose one wants to 
memorize "13^ = 169." We have:— 

Situation Response 

seeing "13^" saying ''thirteen squared" 

seeing "169" ^^say ing "one hundred sixty-nine ' ' 

The two original bonds were developed in connection with 
learning to read and to solve arithmetical problems. Through 
repetition the new bond (13^ — 169) is formed. The process is 
stimulus substitution or rote memory. 

^ The term "conditioned reflex" is used in this connection by some writers 
to cover those cases included here under "stimulus substitution." 



11 COMMITTING TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 77 

Some Corollaries to the Above Law. — (1) If one recites his 
vocabulary in this way : — 

seeing ''der" saying ''der" saying ''the" 

seeing "hund" saying "hund" saying "dog" 

seeing "haus" saying "haus" saying "house" 

etc., 

he is strengthening not only the new bond (the dotted line in the 
diagrams above) but also the bond of pronouncing the word 
when seen. If he learns his vocabulary by merely looking at 
the foreign word and pronouncing its English equivalent, thus : — 

seeing "der" saying "the" 

seeing "hund" saying "dog" 

seeing "haus" saying "house" 

he is strengthening mainly, if not entirely, the new and desired 
combination. 

But even such a procedure does not lead to the best develop- 
ment of one's vocabulary. It leads simply to the connection of 
" hund " with "dog." If one, on the other hand, should on seeing 
"hund" say "dog," then "animal," "cur," "Toby," etc., he 
would give to the foreign word "hund" the meaning that attaches 
to its English equivalent besides connecting the two together. 

Gordon has demonstrated this in an experiment in which one 
group of students studied an Italian-English vocabulary made 
up of the words in a stanza of a poem. They were permitted 
to study the vocabulary in any way they pleased for half an 
hour. The second group spent this half hour as follows: — (a) 
the poem as. a whole was explained, (b) a close translation was 
given them, (c) the poem was read in Italian, (d) the poem was 
read in Itahan and translated hne by line, (e) the group read 
aloud the poem in Italian, then each member of the group did 
so and gave a translation, (f) the passage was read in Italian 
several times. Both groups were tested at the end of the half 
hour as to their knowledge of the vocabulary, also again a week 
later. The errors made by the two groups were: — 
Test following study. Group I,— 0.58 errors; Group 11,-3.83 
Test a week later. Group 1,-6.30 errors; Group 11,-3.50 
"Thus the words learned in lists have the advantage at first but 
lose it later. In addition to a more permanent learning of the 



78 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

individual words, the second group were able to recite the poem 
very creditably.^ 

All those who have studied a foreign language have realized 
the force of the conclusion in this experiment. Foreign words 
learned as a part of a vocabulary are not learned in the same way 
as the same words when learned during reading. The word 
may be known, for example, in the vocabulary but not understood 
in the text. There are a number of reasons for this besides the 
one suggested above, but let us consider it alone here. The 
foreign word has been connected in the vocabulary lesson with 
an English equivalent, but it has not necessarily been connected 
with the great wealth of meaning that the English word carries 
with it. The foreign word may call to mind the English word 
but the English word called to mind may not then call to 
mind its meaning since the foreign word is the situation to which 
we are primarily reacting, not the English equivalent. Under 
such a condition of affairs two steps are necessary before we can 
use the foreign word in the translation, (1) think its English 
equivalent, (2) think the English word's meanings. If the 
foreign word had been linked up originally not merely with its 
English equivalent, but also with that word's meanings this 
trouble would not have arisen. The difference between learning 
the meaning of foreign words in vocabularies and in actual read- 
ing or conversation comes down very largely to the psychological 
difference, in the first case of merely connecting the foreign 
word with an English equivalent, and in the second case, of 
connecting the foreign word with the English word's equivalent. 
Meaning can then be thought of as made up of the bonds that 
are attached to a word. The meaning of *' paragraph," or " paral- 
lax," or '' parallel " for any person is the sum total of ideas (bonds) 
that these words may arouse. 

All of this applies to teaching the use of new words. "Con- 
densation," ''evaporation," ''expansion," "protective coloring," 
can be taught so that the only response is a series of words (a 
definition) or they can be taught so that a whole series of ideas 
follows requiring the writing of a paragraph to express adequately 
the idea. Demonstrations, experiments, discussions, etc., help 
here, as contrasted with the mere use of a textbook. 

^ Kate Gordon, Educational Psychology, 1917, p. 173£f. 



11 COMMITTING TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 79 

Learning through an Intermediate Association — Asso- 
ciative Shifting 

Having considered at some length the process of learning a 
German-English pair of words through sheer repetition, let us 
now consider the process when the two words are learned through 
the use of an intermediate thought, e. g., ''hund-hound-dog." 
Here again we have the same situation-response combinations 
to start with as before, i. e. : — 

Situation Response 

1 seeing hund > pronouncing hund 

2 seeing dog > pronouncing dog 

3 seeing dog > thinking Toby 

4 seeing dog > thinking animal 

etc. 

But it is evident, in that the individual went from ''hund" to 
''hound," that there was also the situation "hund" — response 
"hound." In like manner there was also the situation 
"hound" — response "dog." There is no difficulty attaching 
to this second additional situation-response combination. But 
there is in the first case. Why did "hund" call up "hound"? 
They have never been together before. Can a situation call up 
a new response of its own accord with no previous connection 
between them? Yes and no. Certainly not if there has been 
no previous connection between them. "Hund" would never 
call up "zojk," or "star" for example. But in this case, although 
the total situation (seeing "hund") and the total response 
(saying "hound") have never been together before, there are 
parts of the situation which have been together with parts of the 
response. The letters "h-und" in "hund" have been together 
and in the same order as in "hound." Those individuals who 
saw the connection between "hund" and "hound" did so in 
terms of these common details in the total situation and the 
response (hound). But some individuals did not see the connec- 
tion at first, they discovered it after pronouncing "hund." 
Pronouncing "hund" became the situation which called to mind 
the Enghsh word "hound." And here again the details— sound 
of "h" and "nd" in "hund" and in "hound" have been together 
so that emphasis upon "h-nd" could easily lead to "hound," 



80 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

in fact more easily than to ''hund," because ''hound" is a more 
familiar word than *'hund." 

We may then explain the cause of these individuals thinking 
''hund-hound-dog" by stating that they reacted not only to 
hund as a whole situation, but to the details of that situation, and 
that the reaction to the details gave them a response which was 
already linked up with the final response they desired. This 
process of reacting to a situation in terms of some of its parts 
comes under the Law of Partial Identity. When we have no 
bond between the situation and a response (or often a very weak 
bond) we are quite likely to respond to the situation in terms of 
certain of its parts to which we already have a strong bond. 
In this case the bond between ''hund" and "dog" did not exist 
or was very weak from only one or two repetitions. We conse- 
quently reacted in terms of the details "h-und" instead of 
"hund" and thought "hound " — the nearest response to 
"h-und." 

There is still another factor to be considered. The Law of 
Partial Identity explains why the intermediate word "hound" 
should come to mind. But in terms of this law one would 
expect also to be reminded of such words as "hand" or "hind" 
as well as "hound." A careful analysis of what takes place in 
learning a vocabulary will reveal that many irrelevant words do 
flash through the mind. But one "dismisses" them immedi- 
ately, whereas one "holds on" to relevant words. Moreover, far 
more relevant words come to mind than irrelevant words. 
Although the chances should be very decidedly against the relevant 
word, we shall have to explain this phenomenon on the basis that 
not only does the word "hund" call up " hound " and other similar 
words, but the word "dog" also calls up words associated with it 
directly or through partial identity. As the word "hound" is 
brought to mind by both "hund" and "dog" and words like 
"hand" or "hind" or "animal" or "Toby" are brought to 
mind by only one of the two words, the word "hound" is far 
more likely to come into consciousness than any of the other 
words. This is an example of what is known technically as the 
summation of stimuli. A reaction is more likely to be made in 
response to two stimuli than to only one. One may ignore one 
ticklish sensation but respond violently to two. 



11 COMMITTING TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 81 

Stimulus Substitution versus Associative Shifting 

The essential difference between the person who learned that 
^' hund '' means '' dog " by sheer repetition and the one who learned 
that ''hund" meant ''dog'^ through the intermediary "hound" 
lies in the fact that the former developed a new bond, whereas 
the latter utilized bonds already in existence. The former is the 
simpler method and undoubtedly the more primitive, the latter 
is characteristic of some of the learning human beings are capable 
of as distinguished from what animals can do. The most signifi- 
cant difference is that learning a new bond through stimulus 
substitution requires several repetitions, or else a very strong 
stimulus, as the sting of a bee, or fright. On the other hand, 
through associative shifting, a new combination may be learned 
sufficiently in one repetition so that it will function efficiently 
throughout life. 

Learning by trial and error and by stimulus substitution are 
the only ways a new bond can be formed. But old bonds can be 
grouped or linked together in very complex ways. And 
apparently such reorganizations may be easily accomplished. (We 
shall return to this topic in Lesson 15.) 

In early life one has few situation-bond-response combinations. 
Consequently much of one's learning necessarily consists in 
forming new combinations. This means a great deal of repeti- 
tion. Children do not seem to mind it; in fact, they enjoy 
counting, reciting poems, songs, tables, etc. In later life, having 
now many bonds, one prefers to learn through recombining old 
bonds rather than developing new ones. It is often stated that 
children memorize better than adults. That has been disproved 
by experimentation. Children cannot memorize so well as 
adults, but they object less to doing so. Practically speaking, 
then, they may be said to memorize more easily than adults. 

Use of Mnemonic Devices in Memorizing 

Many attempts have been made to develop artificial schemes 
by which one could substitute associative shifting for rote mem- 
ory. And one or two such systems are constantly being advertised 
as panaceas for all our difficulties in memorizing names and faces 
and dates, etc. Here and there are persons who can utilize such 

6 



82 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



mnemonic devices but with most persons it is as difficult to man- 
ipulate the scheme as to learn the material outright. Here is 
an illustration taken from one of these systems. To begin with, 
it should be understood that each number is represented by 
a letter, as, for example, is represnted by S, 1 by P and 3 by 
CH, etc. Now supposing one wanted to remember that Spain, 
Macedonia, Africa, Carthage, and Asia Minor were added to the 
Roman Empire in 130. Put down the initial letters of the five 
names, i. e., S M A C A M. This calls to mind ''smack 'em," 
then ''smack the lips," then "luscious peaches," and that gives 
us"PeaCHeS,"orl30. 

Whether one can remember dates more easily by such devices 
than by memorizing them outright depends on the individual 
almost entirely. In some cases one can utilize the steps employed 
by another, as in the case of learning the Chinese symbol for 
*'well," but ordinarily if one does not originate the steps himself 
they are of little or no value. . 

The Effect of Position upon Learning 

The first and last two or three pairs of words were learned much 
more quickly than the pairs in the middle of the list of twenty-five. 
This is a common occurrence under such conditions. Apparently 
in learning a vocabulary, for example, such as: — 

faire — do 

chien — dog 

mouche — fly * 

pied — foot 

we not only respond with the word "do" to the situation "faire" 
but also to the situation "first word in the list." Likewise in the 
case of "chien — dog" we not only pronounce the word "dog" 
in response to the situation "chien" but to the situation "second 
word in the list" and very likely also in such a case to the situa- 
tion "do," since "dog" is so similar to "do." It is apparent that 
these "position" situations aid us materially in committing a 
vocabulary to memory but later on when "faire" is met in a 
French story it may not be reacted to because the element "first 
word in a vocabulary" is missing. Learning items in terms of 



^ 



11 COMMITTING TO MEMORY A VOCABULARY 83 

^'position" is a risky performance if the items are to be met 
singly later in life. 



The Prompting Method 

What we want in life is to be able to give the English equivalent 
of the foreign word when it is encountered (and vice versa). 
Through the prompting method we are drilled in reacting to the 
single words just as we shall wish to do later in life. For that 
reason it is superior to other methods of learning vocabularies 
in which we are drilled to react more or less differently from the 
way we need to respond. The best method of acquiring a vocabu- 
lary is through speaking the language and reading it, just as one 
learns his native tongue. If one must memorize vocabularies 
the best method is to prepare small slips of paper. On one side 
write the English term and on the other side the foreign equiva- 
lent. In studying the vocabulary pick up the slip of aper, read 
off the term on one side and recall its equivalent. If this can not 
be done, turn the paper over and repeat the two terms several 
times together. After thus going through the list, shuffle the 
slips of paper and repeat the process. In this way the '^prompt- 
ing method" can be used by one person, and all associations with 
position are eliminated. 



LESSON 12 
WHAT ARE THE LAWS OF RETENTION? 

We have all had the experience of not being able to remember a 
fact or do a certain stunt which we have been able to do 
previously. We say we have forgotten. Let us look into this 
matter of forgetting and see of what it consists. 

In Lesson 4 the alphabet was repeated forwards twenty times 
and backwards twenty times and in Lesson 10 a vocabulary of 
25 Spanish-English words was memorized. These two experi- 
ments will now be repeated in order to discover how much has 
been retained and how much has been forgotten. (Obviously, if 
S practices before coming to class the experiment will be ruined.) 
A third experiment is concerned with the extent to which we 
are able to retain what has been presented to us for a very short 
interval of time. 

(Do not get excited because there are three experiments to do. 
They will not take very long. If necessary you can easily do the 
third experiment outside of class upon some friend.) 

Experiment I. To What Extent Does One Retain 
Learning to Say the Alphabet? 

Apparatus. — Watch with second-hand. 

Procedure. — Have S (the same individual who was S in the 
Alphabet experiment in Lesson 4) repeat the alphabet (1) for- 
wards and (2) backwards twenty times each. Record the time 
for each trial. 

Results. — Plot on one sheet of co-ordinate paper the curve (1) 
of learning the alphabet forwards and (2) backwards as obtained 
in Lesson 4 and (3) the curve of relearning the alphabet forwards 
and (4) backwards as obtained here. (The results should be 
worked up after completing the next experiment.) 

84 



12 WHAT ARE THE LAWS OF RETENTION? 85 

Experiment II. To What Extent Does One Retain A 

Vocabulary? 

Apparatus. — The same Spanish-English vocabulary used 
Lesson 10. 

Procedure. — Use here the same S as in Lesson 10. E prepares 
another blank similar to the model in Lesson 10 and writes in 
the 25 Spanish and English words. He supplies S with a list 
of the 25 Spanish words. There will be no initial reading of the 
vocabulary to S as was done in Lesson 10. When E and S are 
ready S will commence at the top of the list of Spanish words and 
pronounce the first Spanish word and then attempt to give the 
English equivalent. (1) If he does so, E says nothing and S 
passes to the second pair immediately calling out the Spanish 
word and giving its English equivalent, etc. (2) If S gives an 
incorrect English word, E will write that word in Column 1 
opposite the appropriate Spanish word, and prompt S as to what 
the correct English word is. S then pronounces the next Spanish 
word, etc. (3) If S makes no reply within 5 seconds, E marks 
an ''x" in Column 1 opposite the Spanish word, and prompts S as 
to the correct English word. Then S pronounces the next 
Spanish word, etc. 

Repeat the above procedure trial after trial until S can give 
correctly the English equivalent to each of the 25 Spanish words 
without error and without waiting more than 5 seconds in any 
case. 

Results. — Plot (1) the curve of learning the vocabulary as 
obtained in Lesson 10 and (2) the curve of relearning as obtained 
here. 



Experiment III. How Many Digits Can One Repeat Cor- 
rectly Immediately after Hearing Them (Memory 

Span Test) i 

Apparatus. — ^List of digits given below. 

Procedure. — Using the series of digits given below, read a short 
series to S at the rate of one digit per second. Take the utmost 
care to read so as to ensure even tempo, clear articulation, and 
entire absence of rhythm. 



86 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

While E is reading the Kst to S the latter should keep his mouth 
closed and should not repeat the digits to himself. Directly at the 
conclusion of the series, let S repeat as much as possible of what 
has j ust been read him. (In testing young children E should record 
in writing S's reproduction; with older individuals it is advisable 
to have S write down his own reproduction. In this case S 
should indicate each omission by a dash or a blank space, thus 
for the series, 9, 4, 7, 3, 5, 8, 6, the reply is 9, 4, 1 ,■ — , 8, 5, 6, if S 
is unable to remember the fourth digit and has interchanged the 
fifth and sixth digits.) 

After having read a short series to S and having obtained his 
correct reproduction, read him a longer series. If he is again 
correct, read the next longest, and continue until he makes errors. 
Suppose his first error is with a series of seven digits. Then 
secure in all three trials with the series of six digits, three with 
seven digits, and three with eight digits. In other words discover 
the longest series that S can reproduce correctly three times, also 
the shortest series that S cannot reproduce correctly at all in 
three trials, as well as three trials with any series of intermediate 
length. 

Credit S with his best score, i. e., if he responded correctly to 
all three of the S's, to only one of the series of 6's, and no times 
to the series of 7's; then credit him with a memory span of 6. A 
correct answer means that the digits are not only all repeated 
but they are repeated in the original order. 

Memory Span Test 



2. 


7-3 


1-6 


8-5 


3. 


2-9-4 


8-3-7 


9-6-1 


4. 


5-1-8-3 


9-2-7-4 


3-8-2-6 


5. 


4-7-3-9.2 


6-4-1-8-3 


2-8-3-7-9 


6. 


8-5-1-7-2-9 


2-7-9-3-8-1 


9-4-1-7-2-8 


7. 


2-9-6-4-8-7-5 


9-2-8-5-1-6-4 


1-3-8-5-9-7-4 


8. 


4-7-2-9-5-8-1-6 


7-1-8-3-6-2-9-5 


4-6-1-5-8-2-9-7 


9. 


7-2-4-9-3-8-6-1-5 


4-7-5-2-9-3-6-1-8 


2-5-9-3-8-1-4-7-6 


10. 


8-3-9-5-1-6-2-7-0-4 


7-4-0-2-5-1-9-3-8-6 


2-6-1-4-0-7-3-8-5-9 



In case of any mistake, additional series can be obtained by ' 
reading the above lists of digits backwards. In retesting an , 
individual this should be done. Let each partner act as S in I 
this experiment, if there is time. 

J 



12 



WHAT ARE THE LAWS OF RETENTION? 



87 



Results. — Record the memory span of each partner. 
Interpretation. — Answer the following questions based on the 
three experiments. 

1. How much do you calculate S forgot during the interval of 
time between the first and second alphabet experiments? Between 
the two vocabulary lessons? 

2. On the basis of the first two experiments and your genera 
knowledge, do you think that a person who had studied Latin 
two years would ever forget the first conjugation? Get as good 
evidence for your view as you can. 

3. In what way is the memory span test related to the two 
experiments on retention? Explain. In what ways do the two 
differ? 

4. According to data furnished by Stiles,^ children have 
memory spans, as given below. In the second and four columns 
are given the average memory spans for boys and girls and in the 
third and fifth columns are given the memory spans that the 
poorest child of the best % of each class had. The data are 
based on records from 751 boys and 834 girls. 





Boys 


Girls 






Division be- 






Division be- 


Age 


Average 


tween best % 
and poorest yi 


Average 




tween best ^^ 
and poorest 3^ 


6 


5.3 


5 


5.5 




5 


7 


5.6 


5 


5.6 




5 


8 


6.3 


6 


6.1 




5 


9 


6.5 


6 


6.6 




6 


10 


6.8 


6 


6.4 




6 


11 


6.6 


6 


6.9 




6 


12 


6.9 


6 


6.9 




6 


13 


6.9 


6 


7.2 




7 


14 


7.2 


6 


7.1 




6 


15 


7.2 


7 ■ 


7.2 




7 


16 


7.4 


7 


7.2 




7 


17 


7.5 


7 


7.7 




7 



1 C. W. Stiles, Memory Tests of School Children, U. S. Pub. Health 
Service, Reprint No. 316, Dec. 24, 1915. 



88 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Gates ^ reports the following distribution for 163 college students 
in visual and auditory memory span. (His results are con- 
verted here into percentages, i. e., 0% of college students have a 
memory span of 4 with visually presented material, 1% have a 
span of 5, 9% of 6, 18% of 7, etc.) 



No. of digits 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


Visual presentation 

Auditory presentation 






1 
7 


9 
14 


18 

18 


39 
35 


21 

18 


8 
6 


2 

1 


2 
1 



In the light of the figures in these two tables and your own 
records what do you suppose is the relationship between profici- 
ency in memory span and (1) age, (2) general intelligence? 

5. Would you expect as good school work from a child of 12 
years of age who has a memory span of 5, as you would fromi a 
child with a memory span of 7? Explain. 

6. Would knowing the memory span of an individual help you 
at all in advising him as to the kind of job he should attempt to 
get? Consider such jobs as these for a girl: saleswoman in a 
store, cook, telephone operator, stenographer, machine operator, 
milliner, book-keeper, teacher. 

Write up these three experiments following the regular outline 
and hand in at the next class-hour. Do not forget the heading 
''Apphcations." 

^ A. I. Gates. The Mnemonic Span for Visual and Auditory Digits, 
Jour. Exper. Psychol., Oct., 1916. 



I 



LESSON 13 
RETENTION (continued) 

The subject of retention has to do, of course, with the perma- 
nency of our learning. We have seen that in learning we develop 
a new bond between a situation and its response. We are here 
interested in discovering whether this bond remains permanently 
in the same condition as time goes on. When we learned the 
alphabet backwards we formed new bonds, for example between 
N and M and between U and T. After an interval of time has 
elapsed will these bonds function in the same way as they did 
just after they were formed? 

Let us consider the data from a subject who did the alphabet 
experiment first on June 17 and repeated it again on June 23. 
His data are as follows: 



HALS 


Time, June 17 


Time, June 23 


1 


26.0 Sec. 


17.2 Sec. 


2 


22.0 Sec. 


16.2 Sec. 


3 


22.0 Sec. 


17.3 Sec. 


4 


18.8 Sec. 


15.4 Sec. 


5 


17.8 Sec. 


11.1 Sec. 


6 


19.8 Sec. 


12.0 Sec. 


7 


19.0 Sec. 


10.0 Sec. 


8 


18.8 Sec. 


10.0 Sec. 


9 


26.4 Sec. 


14.4 Sec. 


10 


28.4 Sec. 


9.0 Sec. 


11 


16.0 Sec. 


15.3 Sec. 


12 


16.0 Sec. 


10.0 Sec. 


13 


16.4 Sec. 


10.0 Sec. 


14 


12.4 Sec. 


9.2 Sec. 


15 


11.8 Sec. 


10.0 Sec. 


16 


14.4 Sec. 


' 10.0 Sec. 


17 


9.6 Sec 


8.2 Sec. 


18 


14. 4 Sec. 


8.2 Sec. 


19 


11.4 Sec. 


8.0 Sec. 


20 


11.4 Sec. 


9.0 Sec. 



His last trial on June 17 required 11.4 seconds and the first trial 
six days later took 17.2 seconds. We can say then that he has 

89 



90 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

forgotten this performance to the extent of 5.8 seconds (17.2 — 
11.4). But this does not mean that he has lost all that was 
gained from the twenty trials. If all had been lost it would have 
taken him 26 seconds on the first trial on June 23d, as it took 
him that long on the first trial of June 17. 

As it was, he retained this performance to the extent of 88. 
seconds (26.0 — 17.2). Clearly, then, one does lose during an 
interval of time part of what one was able to do, hut one does not 
lose all. 

Or looking at these data in another way, this individual on his 
eleventh trial on June 17th beat his first trial on June 23d. We 
might say then that he lost the effect of 10 trials during the 
interval of six days, i. e., the effect of the 11th to the 20th trial. 
But on the other hand the 10th trial on June 23d (9.0 seconds) 
beat the best record on June 17 (9.6 seconds). That is, appa- 
rently only 10 trials were needed the second day to accomplish 
what was not accomplished in twenty trials on the first day's 
practice. 

To sum up, then, this individual retained during the six days 
the effect of the first ten out of the twenty trials or an increase in 
rate of 8.8 seconds (26.0—17.2). He lost the effect of the last ten 
trials or a decrease in rate of 5.8 seconds (17.2 — 11.4). 

As for the relationship between what one loses and what one 
retains, that is found to be dependent on several factors, the chief 
of which is obviously the amount of practice which entered into 
the previous learning. Without doubt the more thoroughly 
one learns a thing originally the better one can remember it. 
Hence we say that retention is dependent upon amount of practice 
or that retention is dependent upon strength of the bond. 



The Effect of Time Interval upon Retention 

The results outlined above are characteristic of what one retains 
and what one loses during an interval of time. If the interval is 
very short, one of course retains proportionately a great deal of 
what he has learned and one loses very little. If on the other 
hand, the interval is very long, the relationship is reversed. 

Now it is natural to suppose that the longer the interval of time 
the more one would forget. If one lost 10% during an interval 



13 RETENTION 91 

of an hour, then one would lose 20% during a two-hour interval, 
or 30% during a three-hour interval. But if this proportion is 
carried further one would lose 100%, or all, in 10 hours and 110% 
in 11 hours, which is, of course, impossible. Apparently this is 
not the correct conception. The rate of forgetting is not pro- 
portional to the time that has elapsed. It is actually very 
rapid during the first few minutes and becomes less and less as 
time goes on. In Plate IX are given two retention curves, one 
worked out by Ebbinghaus^ in 1885, and the other by the writer^ 
in 1913. 

In Table I are given the data on which these curves are based. 

Table I. — Per Cent. Retained After Varying Intervals of Time 





Results of Ebbinghaus, 


Results of Strong, 


Interval of Time 


Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


15 Seconds 




84.6 


5 Minutes 




72.7 


15 Minutes 




62.7 


20 Minutes 


58.2 




30 Minutes 




55.5 


1 Hour 


44.2 


57.3 


2 Hours 




47.2 


4 Hours 


• • . • 


50.6 


8 Hours 




40.0 


8.8 Hours 


35.8 




12 Hours 




41.1 


IDay 


33.7 


28.8 


2 Days 


27.8 


22.9 


4 Days 




19.3 


6 Days 


25.4 





7 Days 




9.6 


31 Days 


21.1 




42 Days 


.... 


6.3 



From the figures of Ebbinghaus a person retains approximately 
two-thirds of what he learned after 20 minutes, one-half after an 
hour, one-third after 9 hours, and but one-fourth after 2 days. 
The writer's figures show a somewhat greater amount retained 
after very short intervals of time and a somewhat smaller amount 
after long intervals of time. But the principle remains the same 

^ H. Ebbinghaus, Ueber das Geddchtnis, Leipzig, 1885. 
^ E. K. Strong, Jr., The Effect of Time-Interval upon Recognition 
Memory. Psijchol Rev., Sept., 1913. 



92 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



in both. We forget very rapidly at first and then more and more 
slowly. 

Retention of Motor Habits. — The curves of retention given in 
Plate IX apply to the retention of habits that have been devel- 
oped with relatively few repetitions. When we turn from such 
performances to others, such as dancing, skating, typewriting, 



lOOo- 



10 




T 



Intervals of Time - Days 



Plate IX.— Showing effects of various intervals of time upon retention, (Solid 
line— results on recall memory by Ebbinghaus; dotted line— results on recognition 
memory by Strong.) 



handwriting, etc., we find that there is no such rapid forgetting 
as these curves of forgetting suggest. After one has once learned 
to ride a bicycle one will forget relatively little during an interval 
of years in which the bicycle is not touched. In such a case a 
person has not only learned to ride a bicycle but he has ridden it I 
time after time until the habit has been, as we technically say, 
over-learned enormously. The extent to which we retain a habit, 
whether it be of reciting a poem, playing a piece on the piano, or 
tying our necktie depends then (1) on the interval of time since 
we last practiced the habit, and (2) on the extent to which we 
practiced the habit originally. We may draw the moral from 



13 RETENTION 93 

this section that learning any habit to the extent that it will 
function correctly means that we know it at that time, but only 
much practice over and above such learning will insure our know- 
ing it months or years later. 

Physiological Basis for Retention 

The term *'bond" has been used in this course to cover the 
nerve connections involved in learning. Later on certain phases 
of the nervous system will be discussed. At present only one 
new conception need be considered. It is that a nervous current 
encounters resistance in flowing over a nerve; and the more fre- 
quently such a current flows over a particular nerve the less the 
resistance.^ 

A habit or memory is today conceived of as due primarily to 
the chemical change in the nerve connections whereby the resis- 
tance is lowered, thus permitting the nervous current to flow 
in this particular. direction rather than in some other direction. 

Consider the analogy in Lesson 9 of Q, blindfolded, learning to 
go in a certain direction over a snow-covered field, depending 
first on signals from P and later on the ''feel" of the path he has 
previously formed as distinguished from the untrodden snow. 
The analogy was presented to show how a smoothly running 
habit could develop from mere random movements. We can 
liken the resistance encountered in walking through the snow 
to the resistance offered to a nerve-current by a little used nerve. 
And we can liken the decreasing resistance encountered as the 
path develops in the snow to the decreasing resistance made to 
a nerve current by a more and more used nerve. At first it makes 
no difference which way Q travels through the snow, the resis- 
tance is equal in all directions. Later Q can travel more easily 
along the path he has previously formed than in any other direc- 
tion. Likewise in responding to a new situation (e. g., the at- 
tempt to wag the ears) the resistance is great over every possible 
pathway and there results either no response at all or all sorts 
of random movements (e. g., frowning, winking, twisting the 
mouth, raising the scalp, twitching of the toes, etc.). Later the 
situation produces the one response (moving the ears) and no 

^ See lesson 57, for more detailed discussion, under the heading of Synapse. 



94 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

other, because the resistance over the nerves connecting situa- 
tion and response is lower than any other pathway from the situa- 
tion to any other response. The new habit is dependent on the 
relatively low resistance of the nerves which connect situation and 
response as compared with the resistance of the nerves which connect 
the situation with any other response. The same thing is equally 
true of retention (of memory) . In fact, retention is synonymous 
with lowered resistance over nerves. The resistance is lowered 
by use and increases again through disuse. 

At one time memory was thought of as the storing of nerve 
cells, similar to storing a storage room with supplies. Such a 
conception is false. Memories, or habits, are nothing more nor 
less than expressions of the fact that certain responses will now 
follow certain situations because of low resistance of the nerves 
comprising the bond. 

With these facts before us we can readily see the futility of 
supposing that a ''memory" can be recalled at any time. A 
''memory" in this sense doesn't exist. All that actually exists 
is a system of conduction pathways with low resistance. If the 
former situation is encountered the proper response will follow 
because of this low resistance. But the response (memory or 
habit) will never appear unless the original situation, or a very 
similar situation (Law of Analogy) is presented. 



Relearning 

It is clear from what has been established that as soon as prac- 
tice in learning anything ceases one commences to forget. And, 
moreover, that one will forget very rapidly at first and then more 
and more slowly. We should expect accordingly that at the 
commencement of every writing lesson, every music lesson, 
every sort of lesson, the beginner will not do so well as he did at 
the end of the previous lesson. The first few minutes will be 
spent in relearning what has been lost during the interval. It is a 
common observation that it takes a few minutes in which to warm 
up to a subject. The athlete finds this to be the case in physical 
work. One should realize that he cannot do his best work at the 
start, and not get discouraged but quietly and carefully go over | 
the performance a number of times until he has relearned what 



13 RETENTION 95 

he has temporarily lost. Then he can expect to be doing his 
best work and to commence trying to beat his previous record — 
to improve his accuracy and his speed. The writer has found 
this to be very true in his own case in typewriting. If he 
endeavors to go at full speed when he begins to write he only 
makes mistakes and is apt to continue to make more mistakes 
throughout his entire period of work. But if he will content him- 
self with going slow for a few minutes at the start he can soon go 
ahead at full speed making but few mistakes. 

(Some writers maintain that there are two factors involved here 
— one due to relearning and another to warming-up. In studying 
the rate at which individuals work in all sorts of industries it is 
clear that they work more slowly early in the morning than later 
in the day. This phenomenon affords some evidence for a 
*' warming up" factor related to getting started going in the 
day. And likewise there may be a similar tendency related to 
starting working at any particular task, besides that involved in 
'^relearning." Very often we do not feel at all in the mood, as 
we say, and after working for some time become deeply interested 
and lost in the work. Possibly this change is due to other causes 
than relearning, i. e., bringing the bonds which are needed for 
our work up to their highest state of efficiency. The writer, 
however, believes that the term ''relearning" covers most, if 
not all of these cases, except in the case of the daily warming-up 
phenomenon.) 



Primary and Secondary Retention 

A mental process continues to remain in consciousness for a 
short interval of time. For example I look up a telephone 
number, lay down the book, put the receiver to my ear, and after 
hearing from central, say, "Hemlock 2173-L." Central in a 
moment replies "Line is busy." I hang up and decide to wait a 
few minutes and then discover the number has slipped from my 
mind. The retention of the number from the time it was seen 
in the book until it was recited to Central is an example of 
primary retention. The number was really at no moment out of 
my mind. But as soon as it had been given to Central, it was 
dismissed. Now if I could call it to mind again, as I can my 



96 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

own house number, that would be a case of secondary retention 
or recall. The laws for forgetting so far discussed refer to secondary 
retention, a term which covers both recall and recognition 
memory. Primary memory, on the other hand, persists for but 
a few seconds. That it seemingly lasts longer is due to the fact 
that we keep repeating the contents over and over and so con- 
tinue its existence in consciousness. 

One of the most interesting facts concerning primary memory 
is given us in such an experiment as that of Memory Span. Here 
is measured the number of digits that can be retained in primary 
memory. An average adult can so hold seven digits. Children 
differ from adults in this respect. A two to three year old can 
retain but two digits. A little later the child can repeat three 
digits. And so as he grows older he acquires a greater and 
greater ability along this line. Defective children without 
normal mentality often show marked inferiority in their memory 
span. A child of twelve years of age with a memory span of four 
is most likely to be defective. Recently the writer was asked to 
help a young woman get a job. She was about 18 years old but 
had a memory span of four. Other tests showed her to be but 9 
years old mentally. The failure to reach adult proficiency in 
memory span would shut her out of such jobs as a telephone 
operator or stenographer, for in both these occupations there is 
decided need for primary retention. In fact her low memory span 
emphasized the uselessness of her attempting to do any work 
which required attention upon a number of details at the same 
time. Running a simple machine or selling goods in a five and ten 
cent store would be as complicated tasks as she could do. And 
in fact, these were the only jobs this young woman had ever 
been able to hold more than two weeks. 

One of the most useful tests that can be made on children is this 
one of the memory span. When poor work in school and low 
memory span are found together, it is quite likely to mean that 
the child is dull and cannot do good work. When, on the other 
hand, poor work and a good memory span are found together, 
it is more than likely that the child is not trying sufficiently, 
or has become discouraged in his work for some reason or other, 
or has been sick and absent and missed important points in his 
lessons. One cannot diagnose all of a child's condition with this 
test, but it is a good one to start with. 



13 RETENTION 97 

Methods Employed in Studying Retention 

It might be worth while to digress a moment and consider the 
methods employed in the two investigations quoted above. 
Ebbinghaus made up lists of 13 nonsense syllables such as, neb, 
pid, raz, tud, cor, etc. He memorized seven such lists one 
after the other to the degree that he could recite the lists once 
correctly from memory. He then relearned the seven lists after 
intervals of 20 minutes, 1 hour, 8.8 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 6 days 
and 31 days. He kept a record of the number of repetitions that 
were required to learn a list originally and then relearn it. Sup- 
pose he required 10 repetitions to learn a list originally and after 
two days he required 7 repetitions to relearn a list. It is clear 
that he has saved 3 repetitions (10 — 7) and has lost 7 repetitions 
after two days as compared with his original learning. Divid- 
ing the number of repetitions which he has saved (3) by the 
number of repetitions which he was originally required to make 
in learning the list (i. e., 10) we have Ko> oi" 30%, as the amount 
saved or retained after an interval of two days. (This is a 
comparable method to the prompting method discussed in 
Lesson 11, and is technically known as the learning and saving 
method.) 

In the case of the writer's investigation he employed lists of 
twenty words. S read the list through just once. Then after 
one of the thirteen intervals of time employed (e. g., 15 seconds, 
or 8 hours, or 7 days) S was given a list of 40 words containing the 
original 20 words and 20 new words all mixed in together. S 
was required to go through the list and mark the words he recog- 
nized as having been in the original list. The percentage recogn- 
ized gave the amount retained. (This is known as the recognition 
method.) 

The two investigations were based on two different types of 
memory. In the case of Ebbinghaus' work S had to recall 
the list. In the case of the writer's investigation S had merely to 
recognize the words he had previously seen, to distinguish between 
the new words and the old words. But in both cases the extent 
to which S could recall or recognize was due to the strength of the 
bond that had been formed during the learning. In the next 
chapter we shall take up the matter of the strength of the bond 
and consider it more fully. 



98 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Summary 

The principal points considered in the lesson are : 

1. Retention is dependent on (a) the strength of the bond and 
(h) the interval of time which has elapsed since the last practice. 

2. We forget very rapidly at first and then more and more 
slowly. 

3. Only through a great amount of practice can one hope to 
retain a memory or habit over a long interval of time. 

4. Relearning at the start of any practice is to be expected. 
The following minor points were also touched on. 

1. The physiological basis for retention. 

2. Primary versus, secondary retention. 

3. Use of memory span test in diagnosing an individual's 
capacities. 

4. The 'learning and saving" method of studying retention. 

5. The ''recognition memory" method of studying retention. 

6. Recall versus recognition memory. 



LESSON 14 

WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE STRENGTH OF A 

BOND? 

From our experiments on the learning process we know that 
practice (repetition) results in our doing the task better and 
better. This means that the bond or bonds connecting the 
situation and the response become stronger and stronger. And 
from our study of retention we have seen that lapse of time in 
which no practice occurs results in our losing some of our effi- 
ciency in the task. This means that such lapse results in a weak- 
ening of the bonds connecting the situation and response. 
Clearly then, use strengthens a bond and disuse weakens it. 

Let us turn now and see if there are still other factors which 
affect the strength of a bond. 

The class-hour will be devoted to a demonstration experiment. 
Each member of the class will consequently act in the role of 
subject. Carry out the instructions of E as conscientiously as 
possible but do not worry if you find you are not retaining all 
that is presented. No one can. Simply endeavor to pay atten- 
tion throughout the entire experiment and to absorb as much as 
possible. 

The total results as obtained from the class will be given to you 
before leaving, together with such details of the procedure as are 
essential for you to know. Write up the experiment in the usual 
manner, i. e., under the headings: The Problem, Apparatus, 
Procedure, etc. Work up the data as it seems best to you, 
bringing out the important facts and principles which are illus- 
trated. Hand in your report at the next class-hour. 

Note for Instructor, — Instructions regarding giving this class experi- 
ment are given in Instructor's Manual. 



99 



LESSON 15 

FACTORS AFFECTING THE STRENGTH OF A BOND 

(continued) 

Six factors will be considered in this lesson as affecting the 
strength of a bond. They are — repetition, intensity, interfer- 
ence, reorganization, recency, and effect. Data on the effective- 
ness of the first four were obtained from the experiment in Lesson 
14. The factor of recency or lapse of time since learning was 
studied in Lessons 12 and 13. The factor of effect of satisfac- 
tion and dissatisfaction will be considered for the first time. 

, Factors That Strengthen a Bond 

A new bond is formed through trial and error or stimulus sub- 
stitution. It may be strengthened in one of three ways: — 

Repetition. — The fact that repetition strengthens a bond has 
been clearly shown in all of the preceding experiment^. In the 
last experiment when a combination was shown once it was 
remembered by 5% of the individuals, when shown twice it was 
remembered by 9%, and when shown three times, by 41% of the 
individuals. These figures show the value of repetition. It 
should not be assumed that they represent what would happen 
under other conditions. The more items shown the weaker is 
the relative value of repetition. If there were but ten addition 
combinations to learn a few repetitions would suffice to fixate 
them. But as there are many more than that very many more 
repetitions are necessary. The figures in the table, however, do 
illustrate the value of repetition. 

Intensity, (a) Intense Stimulation. — Of two repetitions the 
one that is the result of the greater stimulation will result in the 
greater development of the bond. A tiny burn on the skin will 
not make us leave the hot radiator alone like a large burn. In 
physiological terms the release of a large amount of nervous 
current by stimulation of the sense organs will more materially 

101 



102 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

affect the nerve connections than will the release of a small 
amount of current. This is the basis for the factor of intensity 
as it affects the strength of a bond. In our experiment there was 
no adequate example of a violent stimulation. If there had been 
that combination would have been exceedingly well remembered. 
This might have been accomplished in the experiment by having 
exposed a combination twice or three times as long, or by having 
the instructor call out the combination as he showed it. But 
neither of these is comparable with the intense stimulation we 
experienced when we caught a bee the first time. Throughout 
life that one experience of being stung is remembered and we 
markedly differentiate bees and other insects. The artificial 
production of great stimulation is difficult to accomplish in 
influencing others. It is done sometimes through punishment. 
A better example is where a parent or teacher arranges matters so 
that the child will get, for example, a slight electrical shock in 
order to teach him to leave wires alone. 

(b) Contrast. — A stimulus will be reacted to more intensely if 
its surroundings contrast sharply with it. Thus an ordinary 
electric light will barely be noticed among fifty others. But if 
the other forty-nine are made to glow very brightly or very 
dimly, then it will be singled out. The first and last elements 
in a series are often noticed more than those in the middle and 
being noticed more are better remembered. This was the case 
in learning a vocabulary, but not in the experiment in Lesson 14. 
The contrast factor of difference in background is sometimes effec- 
tive, though not always. The intensity gained through contrast 
alone seldom amounts to more than a few per cent. Men and 
women do not usually distinguish between contrast and other 
factors and so attribute to it much more value than is due it. 
For example, if one is looking for a certain hotel and a light 
flashes on and off around the hotel name, the name is seen much 
more quickly and the flashing light is given the credit quite 
properly. But if one were not looking for the hotel, the hotel 
name would be ignored almost as much as though the light were 
not there. The efficiency of the flashing light is due to the con- 
trast effect plus the desire to see the name. And the latter 
element is the more important of the two. Possibly the true 
situation is this. If only one or two items are made prominent by 
contrast then they are noticed to a considerable extent and so 



15 FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH OF A BOND 103 

remembered. If many items are made prominent, the intensity 
factor becomes much less valuable. Contrast the value, for 
example, of one colored advertisement in The Saturday Evening 
Post as against twenty or one hundred. 

Prominence (intensity or contrast) may aid in learning because 
the item is singled out and noticed more than the others and, 
therefore, remembered better. 

(c) Emotional Excitement. — A bond is also strengthened by 
emotional excitement. If a child is told that punishment will 
result if he does not do as directed, he is more likely to remember 
than if the emotional fear were not aroused. Incidents seen in 
a movie are surprisingly well remembered in contrast to what is 
learned in school. (This topic is included here, in order to round 
out this discussion. It will be considered at greater length, 
beginning with Lesson 31.) 

Effect, (a) Satisfaction. — Thorndike^ states that when we 
make a response to a situation and feel satisfied or pleased, then 
the bond is strengthened because of the satisfyingness. When 
the response is followed by dissatisfaction, the bond is weakened 
because of the dissatisfyingness. Moreover, the closer or more 
intimate the relationship between the performance and the 
satisfaction or dissatisfaction the more pronounced is the effect 
upon the strengthening or weakening of the bond. 

Effect influences learning because the resulting satisfaction or 
dissatisfaction establishes, first, a standard in terms of which 
successful movements are repeated and unsuccessful ones dis- 
continued, and second, the organism continues a process which 
gives him pleasure and discontinues a process which gives him 
displeasure. All of Watson's^ experiments in which he rewards 
the correct movement and punishes the incorrect ones bear this 
out. His rats choose the former because they are so constituted 
that they go toward food and not away from it, avoid an electric 
shock instead of seeking it. We develop habits which result in 
our being able to do what we enjoy and we do not form habits 
which result in unpleasantness. 

The Law of Effect which we add to our five other factors means, 

then, that learning is dependent (1) on the presence of some 

standard which determines when the learning process (random 

^E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. II, p. 4. 
2 J. B. Watson, Behavior, 1914, Chapter VII. 



104 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

movements) is ended, (and it is ended when we obtain a more 
satisfactory state than before, or are completely exhausted) and 
(2) on the fact that we will continue pleasant responses but will 
not continue unpleasant ones. 

The second thought in Thorndike's statement is also important. 
The sooner after the movement has been made that we know we 
are on the right track or on the wrong track (i. e., experience 
satisfaction or dissatisfaction), the greater is the value of this 
factor in learning. If a child has spelled incorrectly or disobeyed 
his mother then immediate punishment is far more efficient than 
delayed punishment. In fact, in teaching animals or small chil- 
dren only immediate praise or punishment is worthy of considera- 
tion. As one grows older one can profit from satisfaction or 
dissatisfaction after much longer intervals between the execution 
of the act and the resulting realization that one has performed the 
act correctly or incorrectly. Nevertheless the shorter the inter- 
val of time the greater the value of this factor of ''effect." 
Conscientious high school or college teachers of English labor for 
hours making detailed corrections in grammar, etc., in themes and 
then wonder why the same mistakes are made again and again. 
One reason is undoubtedly that the correction follows so long 
after the act. Immediate correction would accomplish wonders 
here as contrasted with this long delayed arousal of dissatisfac- 
tion. Grammar school teachers, on the other hand, require each 
child to write his lesson on the board and call upon him to defend 
it before the class. Here the interval between execution and 
realization is reduced to a minimum. 

Factors That Weaken a Bond 

Lapse of Time. — Experiments in relearning the alphabet and 
vocabulary have clearly demonstrated that we forget, that our 
bonds do deteriorate if they are not used. The more recently 
we have performed an act the better can we do it again. (This 
factor is often entitled, ''Recency" instead of "lapse of time.") ' 

Interference is a factor in affecting the strength of a bond. We 
have here the formation of two bonds connecting the same situa- 
tion with two different responses. As both responses can not be 
made at the same time, when the situation is presented, no 
response results. If a child in reciting the multiplication table 



15 FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH OF A BOND 105 

says 9 X 7 is 63 and later says 9 X 7 is 67, when called on b}^ the 
teacher for the answer to 9 X 7 he will make no reply in most 
cases, or wildly guess. To strengthen a bond requires then 
that no competing bonds be formed at the same time. After 
a bond has been well developed, however, a new bond may be 
developed without any great injury to the old one. Herein 
lies one of the reasons for teaching the addition combinations 
first and then the multiplication combinations afterwards. If 
they were taught at the same time there would be great confusion. 
After the first have been well learned then the latter can be read- 
ily learned. But even here it is an advantage to keep them apart 
in the school work until both are fairly well developed. 

'^ Distraction" is another phase of interference. The playing 
of a piano in the next room interferes with one's study. Here 
there is competition between situations, i. e., ^' music" and ^'alge- 
bra" rather than between the responses to the same situation. 

Effect. (6) Dissatisfaction. — Just as a satisfying effect from 
the performance strengthens the bond, so a dissatisfying effect 
weakens the bond. This law explains how new styles of dress 
and manner are learned with such surprising rapidity and then 
as quickly dropped. It is a factor that underlies the self-con- 
scious and suggestible attitudes discussed in Lesson 9. When in 
those attitudes one is responding to any indication of approval 
or disapproval from within oneself or from another, and one is 
is reacting to such, even more than to the problem confronting 
him. 

Reokganization 

Reorganization is not a factor in the development of a really 
new bond, of course, but from the practical point of view of 
learning it is a most important factor since a great deal of our 
learning consists of linking a situation with a response by means 
of already established bonds. To link '4iund" with ''dog" by 
means of the element ''hound" is just as truly learning as to 
connect them directly together: so also to learn "C is 100" in the 
experiment of Lesson 14 through linking up "C" with "Roman 
notation." This type has been called associative shifting, as 
the learning involves a reorganization or shifting of already formed 
bonds or associations. 



106 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The old, old adage in education of "going from the known to 
the unknown '' in teaching emphasizes the value of this type of 
learning for when we start in to teach a new thing and first con- 
sider all of its phases which are already known, the child connects 
it up with old bonds and so utilizes them in learning. 

Novelty.^— Unman beings are particularly interested in a com- 
plex stimulus which stimulates a combination of old bonds that 
have never before been stimulated together. For example, the 
writer was lecturing one hot day just after lunch, upon this sub- 
ject and the students gradually became more and more listless 
and inattentive. Now either contrast or reorganization could 
be utilized to get their attention. The writer could have talked 
louder, or paced up and down the room, or written on the board, etc. 
All these would be contrast effects and would have some effect. 
Instead he described in his ordinary tone of voice an advertise- 
ment entitled something like this, ^'How does (an actor) 

make a cat yawn on the stage every night?" Immediately, the 
class was awake and paying attention. Why? Because a 
situation made up of details with very old and well developed 
bonds was presented. And the combination was new. The 
words ''cat," "yawn," ''stage," and "night," have very strong 
bonds. Such a novel reorganization of old, familiar situations 
will always attract attention (i. e., be responded to) and will 
easily be retained. 

There is a profound difference between learning a new thing 
and learning a new combination of old things. The former is 
most uninteresting and difficult to "get hold of," despite the 
popular notion. Consider how uninteresting the first lesson in 
physics or algebra was, or how little you read of foreign countries 
you have not visited. On the other hand, consider with what 
interest the expert milliner reads over technical discussions of the 
latest styles, or a botanist seizes upon a new flower, or you read 
descriptions of places you have visited. The average visitor 
to Niagara Falls or Yosemite is very often disappointed at first. 
The scene is too new to make an impression. But as he continues 
to drink in the scene for several days it grows and grows on him 
because he has commenced to link it up with his other experi- 
ences. A big dog is a contrast to an ordinary sized dog. It 
arouses some notice and is more likely to be remembered than 
the average dog. But a dog with a pipe in his mouth is a 



15 FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH OF A BOND 107 

novelty — a new combination of two old familiar things (dog and 
pipe). That dog draws a crowd. 

In teaching, in advertising,^ or in any field where one desires 
to create an impression and have it retained, that impression can 
be most easily and efficiently accomplished by linking up the 
parts of the new impression through the use of old bonds, old 
ways of thinking. A novel presentation (i. e., one capable of 
reorganization by the learner) accomplishes most. And it is 
efficient just in the degree that the old is utilized by the learner 
in connecting the new together. Contrast effects, such as 
increasing the size of the type in an advertisement or the size 
of the advertisement itself, or giving it a colored background, 
or yelling at the class, or writing an assignment in pink chalk, 
or wearing a florid necktie, do not aid particularly in developing 
the new bonds presented in advertising, teaching, or salesman- 
ship, and sometimes they positively interfere through distraction. 

When the lesson can only be learned through the development 
of new (actually new) bonds, then drill (repetition) is the only 
solution. This does not mean that the lesson need be recited 
over and over in the same way. Proper drill is that in which 
the essential part is repeated again and again until mastered, 
but in which the repetition is carried on in various ways so 
that the learner does not tire of monotony, but is stimulated by 
the changes. 

^ See H. L. HoUingworth, Advertising and Selling, 1913, Chapters V and 
VI for an extended discussion of the factors of contrast and novelty as 
utilized in advertising. 



LESSON 16 
HOW TO REMEMBER 

We have now some idea of retention, of how habits and 
memories are retained from the time they were originally de- 
veloped until needed again. We have seen that these habits 
fade out as time goes on. We have seen that they are developed 
and strengthened by such factors as frequency and intensity and 
are influenced by such factors as interference, reorganization, 
and effect. 

We are now ready to consider the problem of reproduction, of 
how we may remember efficiently. 

It is clear that the strength of the bond must be a very impor- 
tant factor in efficient reproduction. If ''6 by 7 equals 42" has 
been said but once, the bond necessarily is very weak and it will 
not be remembered as it would if the equation had been repeated 
twenty-five times. 

In this lesson we want to emphasize another factor affecting 
reproduction, — a factor which is just as obvious and just as 
fundamental as the one concerning the strength of the bond, but 
a factor which has been grossly overlooked in most psychologies 
and in the consideration of this problem by educators. Carry 
through the following experiments and then endeavor to formu- 
late into a law what efficient reproduction presupposes. 

General Directions. — Read over and perform each part before 
going on to the next part. 

Part 1. — Have S call out 30 words as fast as E can write them 
down. Record the time required to call out the 30 words. Then 
obtain from S a careful analysis of just how each word led to the 
next word. The analysis can take this form. 

108 



16 HOW TO REMEMBER 109 

1 house 

2 yard 

I 

(cold weather) 3 hose 

4 freezing — 5 attic— 6 closet 



7 roof— -^8 repaired 
9 gutter 




10 sand-pile 

The diagram illustrates that ''house" called up ''yard" and 
that in turn "hose." "Hose" together with the idea of "cold 
weather" (an idea not pronounced by S but which came to mind 
at the time) (record such in parenthesis), called up "freezing" 
(hose might freeze and be injured). From "freezing" and 
"hose" came "attic" and "closet" (a good place to put hose). 
"Closet" started a new train of ideas calling up "roof" (where 
there had been a leak which was now "repaired." "Roof" and 
"repaired" called up "gutter" (which needed repairing) and 
these called up "sand-pile" because the broken gutter caused 
the rain water to wash the children's sand pile away. 

Part 2. — Have S call out 30 words which are unrelated, i. e., 
have him talk pure nonsense. E should record time again and 
jot down the words. From S's introspections determine whether 
S called out all the words that occurred to him. (The time 
records may help in establishing this point.) Is it possible to 
think pure nonsense, i. e., to think words utterly unrelated? 

Part 3. — Recall (1) the name of your 7th Grade teacher; (2) 
the names of railroad stations near your home ; (3) the authors of 
text-books used in last year's courses. How did you recall these 
facts? What ideas intervened between the instructions given 
here and the proper recall? Note them down. (If S has no 
difficulty in recalhng the items Hsted in (1) to (3), E should ask 
for other material which S has some difficulty in recalling. 
Otherwise the point of this experiment will not be made clear.) 

Part 4. — Could you commence playing a piece in the middle 
where there was no natural break? Can you recite the names of 
the state capitals without thinking the names of the states? 
Can you think an idea not led up to by some previous idea? 



1 1 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 




The Rug Border Problem 

IN ihete <i»yt of hygienic house -ct^nbg, 
njp are a*eJ ijuitc fcncrally in pbcc of 
cjupeo. The objccuiJD haj \xcd the 
ezpcote of i^ hard wocxJ floor lo be 
ezpoied irousd ihe boidcn of [he room. 

To wlvc thii pnjlilem, \^e offer Congo)- 
eum — a lough, harfl- surfaced fabric with ■ 
fim>h ihai b u) exict imiuiion of qiianercd 
,. oak. It co^a only oDc-tenth u much mi 
aa be laid in place without skilled ]abor. 

Looks Like Real Oak 










1 which product 
&c-eimilc of rcjl oak. 

Durability 

CoDgotciun, like a wooden fioor, will 'ut 
M long u IE is kept virni&hed. It li the hard 
rvniih that BCTually takes the wear, and if 
this ii rrnewed occasionally, CoDgoleum will 
pee aaD«ractary •rrvice for yc»n. 



Aiide from its use li a boMcr for rugs. 

Oak Conggleum will be found desirable aa a 
waiiiicotiDg, especially it" used in coDJuacuua 




ffltb ■ m] wood top rail ana baic bv^'L 

Colors 

CoDgoleuiD Is made id tuo shades ofo; 
— Ughl and gotdeo oak. It alio can be ol 
uincd in parquet dnign In a handsome ar 
effective pattern. We also mate it in Sh 
Grey for ffery heavy wear, such a In vesi 
buies, hallways, corridors and offices. 

Lies Flat 

CongoletUD bu ideal Ia;'ing qual 
TTiat ii, it does not reed to be nail, 
glued to the floor — ii hd^ no tcadco 
curl up or kick up. 

Booklet and Samples 

If you a«nnot get Coiij 
d«Jer. write u> for i^fU 




^Jhe Reading Hour 



'kP 




^^>um^ 



VET HEN 70Q live ibrongh (he 



And ther«'» ■ a.loTj behind 
every Robt. Burna Clg«r thxt 
vIet Lo ioiercal wlib •nj' ibat 
ever appeuvd between ihe 



ioiTkerCaba In Mleetlns lb* 

jb^ceoc— of jtmr* of pailetil 

ailing vbile U alowl^ m^t*— 

nihs ipcoi la blending 



You'll find the h^ppy ending 



MEW YORK CITY 







By its fruits you must know it 
The natural product of the oak 

is perfect acorns, just as the nomnal product of the 
Mimeograph Is /ine fmnrin^. If the Mimeograph 
&ils to deliver exact copies of a dear original, some 
factor in the simple process ts being neglected. 
With ordinary care its habitual hourly grist is five 
thousand finely printed duplicates of a typewritten 
sheet, ibrm, blank, letter, design, chart, map, etc 
Too much emphasia caimot be laid upon the ex- 
quisite work which the Mimeograph turns out— much 
quicker than by any other means and at almost negli- 
gible cost. More Mimeographs have been sold than all 
other similar duplicating devices cofnblned — to business 
and educational institutions throughout the world. Le^ 
us show you how the Mimeograph out£t will cut ex- 
penses for you now. Send for interesting catalog "(^-9" 
— fr6m A. B. Dick Company, Chicago — and New York. 




with a beautiful oak finish, he, 
coated with a high erac 
which gives a brilliam polish 

The finish is so perfect that, whco 
you lay Congoleum on your floor, it 
is difficult toteilitfrom the real wood. 

Congolctim is absolutely cleanly 
and can be washed with soap and 



nailed or glued t' 
tendency to curl. 

It is made in two shades— light oak 
and golden oak. It also can be ob- 
tamed in parquet design in a simple, 
handsome and effective pattern, as 
well as in plain slate grey. The rolls 
arc a yard wide and 50 yards long 
The dealer will sell any length required. 

Booklet and sample free on request. 

CONGO ROOFING 

Congo Roofing (s the only roofing that is guaranlted to last for ten yean 
and has that guarantee backed up by a real Surety Bond with every purchase. 
If you buy Congo you buy a certainty. This bond is issued by the 
National Surety Company and is exactly the same as fire or life insurance, 
and means that your root is absolutely guaranteed until 1921. Send (or sample 
and copy of this bond. 
UNITED ROOFING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY 



Plate X. — Which of these advertisements will cause efficient memory of the 

product? 



16 now TO REMEMBER 111 

Part 5. — ^Answer the following questions with respect to the 
four advertisements in Plate X: (a) What is the principal idea 
that is being connected up, (associated with) the product? 
(6) Is this idea a situation leading to the product as a response, 
or is this idea a response to the product? (c) Will this associa- 
tion help you to think of the product at a time when you are 
likely to be buying the product? In other words, when you are 
in a position to buy this product is the product going to come to 
mind and if so, is this particular company's product going to 
come to mind because of the effect of this advertisement? In 
answering this question, ask yourself the further question: 
Just when among all the minutes in a day should this company's 
product flash into mind? 

Part 6. — (a) What two factors are essential to efficient repro- 
duction? (6) How does this conclusion affect the organization 
of a lesson, or course of study? 

Write up the experiments according to the usual form and hand 
in at the next class-hour. 



LESSON 17 

HOW TO REMEMBER (continued) 
The Two Factoks Essential to Efficient Recall 

All habits or memories are composed of a situation, a bond, 
and a response. These are the three components that were 
present as the habits were developed and they remain linked 
together. Psychologically speaking, there cannot be a bond 
which exists alone separated from its situation and response (we 
often speak of a bond without mentioning its situation or response, 
but the latter are always implied as being present). When we 
speak of a habit or a memory we mean nothing more nor less 
than that there does exist a bond connecting a certain situation 
with a certain response. If the response occurs when the situa- 
tion is encountered, we have remembered. If the response does 
not occur when the situation is encountered, we have forgotten. 
We have forgotten because the bond is too weak to function. 

These axiomatic statements postulate therefore that the only 
way a desired response can he obtained is through the presentation 
of the situation which is connected with that response. You can 
only make a child think ''64" by presenting some combination 
of figures as ''8 X 8," which are known by the child to equal 
''64." Everything that we know, every act we are capable of 
performing, every thought we are capable of thinking, will 
remain unperformed or unthought until a situation is presented 
which will call up these acts or thoughts. No one can think 
nonsense, utterly pure nonsense, where each item is absolutely 
foreign to every other item. The "flight of ideas" or "inco- 
herent speech" given in Lesson 1 seems to be pretty near non- 
sense, pure and simple. But careful study shows that the 
separate items are connected, though not necessarily connected 
as rational individuals would connect them. 

Reproduction is dependent, then, (1) on the right situation being 
presented to cause the desired response and (2) on the strength of 
8 113 



114 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



as I 
3d j 



the bond between situation and response. The second factor has 
ah'eady been sufficiently considered and needs to be mentioned 
here only in order to give us a complete grasp of just how repro- 
duction is to be obtained. If the bond is not strong enough, 
then even if the proper situation is presented, the response will 
not follow. This means that if I wish to remember the names 
of persons to whom I am introduced I must first of all definitely 
connect up their appearance with their name and, second must 
practice this connection a number of times. With practice one 
can learn to note peculiarities in many an introduced person 
that through the *^law of analogy" will readily call up the indi- 
vidual's name. Only a few repetitions are necessary to develop 
such connections between appearance of the individual and his 
name. In the cases where no connection between appearance 
and name appears the bond must be developed through repeti- 
tion. Having formed a sufficiently strong bond, then, between 
the appearance of the individual and his name whenever the 
former is encountered the latter comes to mind. 

Until the bond reaches a certain strength it will not function 
so that the response will occur when the situation is presented. 
Starting from zero strength of a bond we may have to go to '^n " 
strength before we reach the necessary strength. The term 
threshold of recall has been used to express this idea. Until the 
bond reaches a certain strength, i. e., rises above the threshold, 
the response will not be made. This conception of a threshold 
explains the oft heard expression, *'I know, but I can't tell." 
The individual recognizes the situation, actually knows that he 
has responded to the situation before, but because the bond 
connecting the situation and the response is below the threshold, 
he cannot respond. The expression, when honestly employed, 
means in the school room that the child has not gone over his 
lesson sufficiently — that the situation-bond-response elements 
have been practised but not often, or intensely, enough to insure 
recall. 

Recall and Recognition 

Certain distinctions between recall and recognition have been 
pointed out already in Lesson 2 in discussing the steps of a sight- 
spelling lesson. Still other distinctions may be considered now. 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 115 

The writer^ suggests that recognition is to be explained as follows. 
On meeting a stranger I react in a certain definite way. The 
reaction is a very complex affair composed of certain thoughts 
concerning him, a certain facial expression, etc. Since this total 
complex reaction has never occurred before it takes longer to 
respond than it will the second time. (Successive repetitions 
lower the reaction time and increase the ''ease" with which 
the reaction is made.) Now when I meet this stranger again this 
total complex reaction is more or less exactly repeated. This 
time the reaction is made more quickly and with more ease. I 
am so constituted that I can ''note" that the reaction has 
occurred more easily than if I were reacting to a stranger for the 
first time. The "noting" is recognition. I don't actually 
"note" these facts, instead, I simply realize I have met this 
individual before. Recognition appears, accordingly, when the 
same response is made, that was made before and the reaction 
occurs " easier " than if it were an entirely new response. Accord- 
ing to this view, "strangeness," "recognition, "and "familiarity," 
constitute mental states which are determined by the "ease" of 
the reaction. 

Upon encountering a situation to which one has previously 
reacted, he may (1) both recall and recognize, or (2) recall but 
not recognize, or (3) recognize but not recall, or (4) neither recall 
nor recognize. When both recall and recognition are present 
there is complete reproduction (memory in the usual sense). 
The response is again made and we realize we have made it 
before. "Lucky guesses" in examinations are examples of recall 
without recognition. The answer is correct but it is not so 
recognized. Unfortunately, all such guesses are not correct. 
But the percentage is large enough to warrant such guessing 
unless it is important that no mistake be made. The third case 
of recognition without recall is very familiar. We have all had 
to say apologetically many times, "Yes, I recognize you perfectly, 
but I can't seem to remember your name." Probably here we 
make the same general response in terms of facial expression, 
liking or disliking, noting color of hair, eyes, etc., that we did 
before and recognize on this basis; but fail to recall the name 
because the bond between his appearance and name is too weak 

1 M. H. Strong and E. K. Strong, Jr., The Nature of Recognition 
Memory. Amer. Jour, of Psychol., July, 1916. 



116 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

to function. In the case when recall and recognition both fail 
to occur, the bond is too weak for recall or recognition, or a differ- 
ent set of reponses are made. Several men I first met in uni- 
form, I have failed to recognize, probably for this reason. 

'^Training" the Memory 

Much of the work now required of children in school is justi- 
fied by educators on the basis that it trains their memory. The 
fallacy in this assumption should be immediately clear to every 
reader. Substituting the word ''habit" for ''memory," we 
would read, Mary learns memory-gems in order to train her 
habit. Such a statement means nothing, nor does it mean any 
more when stated, Mary learns memory-gems to train her 
memory. Memory and Habit are only abstractions. Memories 
and habits are concrete and numerous. Training Mary to 
make one response to a certain situation does not aid her directly 
in making another response to a new situation. Memorization 
of a poem is one thing, of a Latin conjugation another. And 
neither helps one to learn chemical formulae nor the various kinds 
of dress-goods. Each specific habit must be developed by itself. 
Of course, it is not meant that learning Latin words does not 
help in learning botanical terms to the extent that there are 
common elements in the two. But that phase of learning will be 
discussed in Lesson 49. 

Is there any justification, then, for the notion that one gains 
something from memorizing poetry which will help him in later 
life? 

To make the matter absolutely clear let us at the start again 
affirm that memorizing one passage does not directly aid in 
memorizing even another passage. James found that training 
in memorizing one poem, such as the first book of Milton's 
Paradise Lost, did not improve the ability to memorize other 
poetry at all. 

What then is accomplished by such training? Primarily, 
various habits of attitude towards one's work are developed, also 
various ideals concerning work, and various methods of memoriz- 
ing. In training a child to memorize we are at the same time 
training him to neglect other things about him and to react to 
the one thing before him — the passage to be memorized. We 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 117 

give him a new attitude toward the whole thing — before he may 
not have reahzed there was such a thing as a memorized passage. 
Now he knows there is, and that he can so learn himself. He has 
likewise learned various methods or devices which are useful in 
memorizing — e. g., that one must pay attention to the detailed 
parts of the passage as well as to the general whole of the thing, 
that one must make an effort to learn — listless repetitions are of 
little avail, etc. In a general way, then, a student does not 
improve his sheer capacity to memorize by memorizing but he 
does improve in a practical way in that he knows how to go to 
work, that he can learn, etc. 

Is not the psychologist making a distinction here which is of 
no value to the teacher, when he says memorizing does not im- 
prove one's capacity to memorize, but nevertheless that through 
the development of habits and ideals and methods it does make 
future memorizing easier? Not at all. The distinction is very 
vital. Instead now of the teacher concentrating her efforts on 
getting a great deal of memorizing done in order to make her 
pupils more efficient, she must direct her efforts toward seeing 
that her pupils do develop proper attitudes toward the work, do 
memorize correctly. Such a change upon the part of the teacher 
might result in her cutting down very materially the amount to 
be learned but in training the children so that they would learn 
what they did memorize in a far more efficient manner. • 



How TO Memorize 

The following eight principles must be borne in mind in 
memorizing: — 

1. Repetition is essential. The longer the period in which the 
material is to be retained the more the repetitions that are 
necessary. 

2. The first few repetitions will produce noticeable returns; the 
later repetitions will produce scarcely noticeable returns. These 
later repetitions are just as important in effectuating a mastery 
of the material. (Recall data on learning curves.) 

3. Reviews at longer and longer intervals are necessary in 
order to insure that the material will be permanently retained. 

4. As soon as possible, cease simply reading through the 



118 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

material and commence attempting to recall it, prompting one- 
self when one can no longer recall. 

5. Learn by the whole method rather than by the sectional 
method.' In other words read through and through all the 
material, rather than memorize one small part at a time. The 
best method in detail is (a) read through the entire passage a 
number of times to get an idea of it as a whole; (b) read through 
very slowly making sure what each phrase and clause means, so 
obtaining a detailed grasp of the meaning of the whole selection; 
(c) attempt to recall, prompting oneself just enough to go on. 
When this stage has been carried to the point that some parts 
are easily recalled, and other parts are not, then (d) take up the 
difficult parts one at a time and master them, (e) Return to the 
recall and prompting method, going through the entire passage 
again and again until memorization is complete. 

6. Distributed learning is superior to concentrated. That is, 
don't attempt to memorize at one sitting, but follow the 
procedure in (5), doing a little today, a little tomorrow, and so on, 
until the material is mastered. It is surprising how easily most 
individuals memorize when they only go over the material 
once a day. 

7. It is not sufficient that one make some reaction to the 
material to be mastered ; one must react to the material with the 
specific response of recalling just that which is to be retained. 
An example will make this clearer. Myers^ gave classes of indivi- 
duals the impression that they were being tested in speed and 
accuracy of spelling. He called out six words, one after the 
other, and after they had been written down, instructed the 
persons to turn over their paper. They were then called upon 
to reproduce the list of six words in their proper order. Ordi- 
narily adults would have little trouble in writing out six words 
just previously heard or written down. But only 5% of 236 
college students and school teachers succeeded in making a 
perfect score when their attention was directed to spelling and 
not to remembering the six words and in the correct order. Leav- 
ing aside the matter of order of the six words, the number of 
words recalled was as follows: — 

^ G. C. Myers, A Study in Incidental Memory, 1913. 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 119 

6 words were recalled by 25 % 
5 words were recalled by 41 % 
4 words were recalled by 28% 
3 words were recalled by 5 % 
2 words were recalled by 1 % 

The term incide7ital memory has been apphed to those cases 
where we have reacted to a situation in some way or other and 
then are called upon to make the specific reaction of recalling 
the situation itself. Another interesting example of this same 
thing consisted in asking individuals to draw a representation 
of a watch face, with Roman numbers. Of 200 persons so tested 
all but 21 put in ''IV instead of the ''IIII/' and all but 8 put 
in a ''VI." Looking at a watch face thousands of times to tell 
the time does not equip a person with the ability to recall the 
details of that watch face. 

Because one has made one reaction to a situation does not 
imply that he will be able to make the specific reaction of recall- 
ing the situation itself. To memorize, one must react to the 
material with the specific reaction of recalling the material; no 
other reaction is of very much avail. 

8. A real aim or motive must be present, else memorization will 
not occur. That is, without "determination to learn" little will 
be retained even when the individual complies with (7). For 
example, one individual has looked up the squares of 13 to 25 
hundreds of times and still does not know them. A few repeti- 
tions made with the determination to learn them would have 
been sufficient to insure the proper responses when needed. 

Hollingworth^ reports that a number of individuals were 
required to call off as fast as they could the names of five 
colors arranged in an irregular order, twenty times each. This 
they did 220 times. No one was able to do more than give a 
few groups of three or four colors in their proper order, and even 
the proper location of these groups in the series or on the card 
was impossible. The assistant who had gone over the test 
about 3,300 times knew scarcely more about the order of the 
colors than did the subjects themselves. 

To secure effective determination to learn requires the presence 
of some aim or motive. This is, after all, the most important 

^ H. L. HoUingworth, The Influence of Caffeine on Mental and Motor 
Efficiency, 1912, p.. 17. 



120 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

key to memorization. Without a motive the desired results 
will not occur, not because of an inability, but because of lack 
of desire. 

The writer recalls how stubbornly he refused to memorize "The 
Lotus Eaters" for an English teacher he disliked on the ground 
that he couldn't, whereas, at about the same time he memorized 
''The Shorter Catechism," questions and answers, from cover 
to cover, in order to earn five dollars. Teachers must present 
motives for such work. They should go farther than this and 
so develop boys and girls that they will want to memorize other 
beautiful passages (or other material), or, at least, read and enjoy 
such things for their own sakes. (This topic will be discussed 
in greater detail in Lessons 32 to 43.) 

9. One must have the ''problem attitude" toward his work 
(see Lesson 9). One must believe that he can learn. Gil- 
christ^ divided a class into two sections of equal ability after 
the class had gone through a certain assignment. He then 
addressed the first section as follows: ''A hasty examination of 
the papers of the test just given shows that the members of this 
group did not do so well in the test as the average twelve year old 
child. I ask you to take the test again." The following ''re- 
marks" were addressed to the second section: "A hasty examina- 
tion of the papers of the test just given shows that the members 
of this group did exceptionally well. I ask you to take the test 
again." The test was then repeated with the two sections. 

The first section actually lost 5% (the scores being 7L75 
and 68.38), whereas the second section gained 79% (the scores 
being 72.42 and 129.50). If a difference of 84% in work done 
can be secured from college students according as they are told 
they have done poorly or well, such differences in attitude must 
be constantly borne in mind by educators. It would be far 
better to spend the class hour in securing a favorable attitude 
than to devote it to drill when a class is "out of sorts." 

How TO Secure Efficient Reproduction 

A far more important problem than "how to memorize" is 
that of "how to secure reproduction" of that which has been 

^ E. P. Gilchrist, Satisfier versus Annoy er. School and Society, Dec. 2, 
1916, p. 872. (A mistake in the published table accounts for the difference 
in results given there and here.) 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 121 

learned. For if an individual cannot utilize what he has learned, 
it is of little value to him. 

We teachers teach facts all right, we form bonds connecting 
one fact with another in abundance, but we do not so teach that 
when a need arises in life for these facts there will be recalled to 
mind what was taught years before. All of us have lamented 
when it was too late. ''If I had only thought of that, and I 
knew it perfectly well." Knowledge that is not used when 
needed is mighty near worthless. 

We have seen that reproduction will occur when (1) the bond is 
of sufficient strength to function and (2) the situation to which 
the response is linked is presented. The ''strength of bond" 
factor must not be overlooked. We shall, however, reserve to 
Lesson 47 further discussion of this point. What can be done 
by teachers to provide for efficient reproduction in terms of the 
second factor? 

Examples of Efficient and Non -efficient Reproduction. — To 
make the second factor clearer, let us consider some cases where 
individuals did recall and also did not recall, due to the presence, 
or absence, of the necessary situation. 

1. Multiphcation combinations are taught correctly in school 
to secure efficient reproduction. "4 X 9" is presented and the 
child is called on for the response. The response "36" is needed 
when "4 X 9" occurs in life. When the bond connecting "4 X 
9" and "36" has been sufficiently repeated, the product will be 
forthcoming whenever the situation is presented. 

2. A number of years ago a railroad engineer was examined 
in court concerning a terrible accident. The accuracy of his 
testimony depended on whether it was possible for him to have 
done as many things as he said he did in the exceedingly short 
time which it was proved had elapsed between his passing a 
signal and crashing into the other train. In his testimony he 
stated that for years he had planned what he would do in 
case of an accident. And at least once a day he had gone through 
the motions of stopping his train and doing those things needful 
in an emergency. During those years of railroading he had 
developed the necessary habits until when the emergency came 
he did what there was for him to do in an exceedingly short time. 
This is the way to train oneself to meet emergencies. 

The only way to secure efficient reproduction (proper action) 



122 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

is to do those acts themselves as responses to the situations 
which may arise. From principal to kindergartener the only 
way to prepare to react to a sudden fire is by going through the 
fire drill until it has become second nature. It does little good 
to read about how to save a person from drowning. The situa- 
tion which will confront one will be an apparently lifeless body, 
not a book, and the responses that are needful are certain move- 
ments of the hands and body, not a lecture on the subject. To 
be prepared is to have gone through the performance using a 
friend in the place of the lifeless body. 

3. The writer was told one day by a friend who was interested 
in High School physics that he did not believe 10% of a certain 
group of college students could repair their own door bell when 
it was out of order. Yet all of them had had a course in physics 
in High School including the subject of electric batteries and door 
bells. Very likely many of them could respond to the situation 
'^ Examination question, 'Draw a diagram showing how you would 
connect up an electric bell'" by drawing the desired diagram. 
But apparently this situation is so different from the actual situa- 
tion of finding a door bell in the kitchen, the batteries in the 
cellar, and the push-button beside the front door, that knowing 
the response to the first does not help in responding to the 
second. Of course, the responses are very different. One 
involves using a pencil and paper, the other a step-ladder, screw 
driver and knife. Training the hand to draw is not training the 
hand to turn a screw driver, etc. Undoubtedly, before we shall 
make our physics course as practical as it should be, we shall 
have to introduce real situations into its teaching. If an elec- 
tric bell circuit was set up in the laboratory and then put out of 
order and the students were called on to fix it as one of the regular 
assignments there would not be a great number of physics gradu- 
ates who could not apply their science to this life problem. 

4. Consider two advertisements that might have been included 
in Plate X. One depicts a man seated at a dining room table 
eating breakfast all alone, with a bottle of milk and a package 
of Kellogg's Corn Flakes prominently displayed. The heading 
beneath is ''My wife's gone to the country." The other adver- 
tisement reproduces the statue of Venus de Milo, which occupies 
most of the page. The words "Kellogg's Corn Flakes" are 
also conspicuously present. This second advertisement will not 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 123 

secure effective memory because it associates corn flakes with 
Venus de Milo. Such a thought does not make one want to eat 
corn flakes and when, on the other hand, one thinks of this 
famous statue, one is not in the mood or place to buy breakfast 
food. But the first advertisement is planned so as to develop 
effective memory. A husband, eating a solitary breakfast, is 
likely to have this scene flash into mind suggesting to him the 
desirability of this sort of breakfast which he can so easily get for 
himself. Or the wife, planning for her husband's breakfasts in 
her absence may have this scene come to mind and so think of 
corn flakes. In the case of either husband or wife a situation is 
presented to them which they are likely to encounter in life and 
the situation thus calls to mind the product. 

5. Let us consider a far more general type of behavior, where 
it is clearly impossible to connect all the situations a boy or 
girl will meet in life with the proper responses. In such cases a 
general conception has to be developed. A respect for property 
rights can be grounded on the conception that practically every- 
thing belongs to someone. This is established by leading the 
child to see the truth of it in many particular cases. The con- 
ception can further be strengthened by giving him things of his 
own and respecting his ownership of them. Such a child on en- 
countering the situation, ''Money on counter. No one present," 
will not react to just those two details, but to these plus the third 
one of, ''All objects belong to some one." The richer this detail 
is in meaning, i.e., the more strongly it is bound to the idea of 
leaving things alone, the more likely it is that the response to the 
money will be a reaction to the third detail and not to the first 
two. The third detail is of course supplied by the boy himself 
but it is called up by the first two due to careful training. The 
more abstract the training concerning honesty, the less likely 
is it that the details. "Money on counter. No one present," 
will call it to mind. The more concrete the training, the more it 
has had to do with actual examples, the more likely that the 
concrete money will recall the training. Most abstractions are 
far removed from the little affairs of life. Honorable conduct 
must be developed through supplying the individual with proper 
responses to the situations which will actually confront him. 

Efficient Development of General Habits, or General Con- 
ceptions. — The habit of saying "36" upon seeing "4 X 9" is 



124 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

specific; the behavior of leaving other people's things alone is 
general. When '' courtesy," or ''tact," or ''courage" are used, 
we have in mind many habits, some of which are specific, like 
taking off one's hat to the ladies, but most are general, like saying 
inconsequential things that make people feel at home. Much of 
what is meant by "culture" is covered by general habits. These 
need to be developed in school as much as more specific ones. 

Far more stress must be placed upon the determination of what 
general conceptions are to be taught than has been done. Take 
the case of History of Education. Is this course required of 
prospective teachers in order to acquaint them with the history 



5ayin§^ olphabct forwards 
Sayingr alphabet bockword si 

Mirror drawing 

5pged V5. occurocy 
Effect of feeling3 
Effect of method 
Effect of attitude 

Learning VDcabalory 

etc. 



Rapid progress at >5tart 

/ 5loiver progre ss aff2rQ time 

riactuotjo na 

., Plateaus 
Learning 
Curve KAccurocy va. speed 



Effect of feeling 
jEffect of method 
[Effect of attitude 



etc. 



Plate XI. — Illustrating the functioning of a "central conception. 



of educational movements or is it required in order to fit them 
to teach more efficiently? The usual text-book answers that 
the former is the aim of the course. Consequently the details 
of the course are built around such topics as, Greek Education, 
The Renaissance, Realistic Education, and the like. How many 
graduates of such courses ever use what they learned? But if 
the other aim was before the text-book writer, specific problems 
of modern education would appear as chapter headings followed 
by a presentation of the experiences of the past bearing on the 



17 HOW TO REMEMBER (CONTINUED) 125 

problem. The graduate of such a course could hardly help 
using the material in such a course because every time one of 
the problems discussed in the text was encountered, what had 
been studied would flash into mind. As it is, one does not meet 
''Renaissance" or ''Realistic Education" in his daily work and 
so does not have the ideas linked to them come into mind. 

Consider in this connection the organization of this text-book. 
Over and over again you have performed experiments and plotted 
learning curves. From these curves you have learned many 
facts about the learning process, e. g., rapid progress at the start, 
slower progress after a time, fluctuations, that the shape of the 
curve tells interesting facts about the learner's previous training 
and about his natural ability, relation of progress to changes in 
method, to feeling, etc., etc. You can never again see a learning 
curve and not think many of these facts for they are connected 
with the curve. Moreover, when you see a particular curve you 
will think of those principles and facts which that curve suggests. 
In other words you have learned to understand a curve. In 
terms of the diagram (Plate XI) bonds have been formed between 
"learning curve," the central conception, and all the items to the 
right. 

But all of this is not enough, although it is just where most 
instruction stops. It is necessary that you be so taught that 
it will not be left to accident that this central conception (learning 
curve) will occur to you. For it is the key which will unlock all 
your knowledge on this subject. If it is not present you will 
probably not recall the remainder of the material. How can it 
be arranged that you will think "learning curve" when con- 
fronted by certain problems in teaching? It can be accomplished 
by associating many such problems with "learning curve." 
You have already made such associations in the lesson on vocabu- 
lary study and on teaching the violin. 

In terms of the diagram (Plate XI) bonds have been fornied 
between a variety of teaching situations and the central con- 
ception, "learning curve." 

The writer has so organized the material in this course (1) that 
many concrete cases in school room procedure have been asso- 
ciated with the learning curve and (2) that the learning curve 
has been associated with a great deal of the material in the course. 
It is impossible to connect up each detail in life with the proper 



126 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

details in this course. But you can be trained to think "learning 
curve" when confronted with a school problem and then go from 
the intermediate step (learning curve) to almost anything in this 
course. When Mary Ann does poor work you will now respond 
to ''Mary Ann and her poor work" plus ''learning curve," 
and then you will recall "plateaus," "attitudes," "changes in 
method," etc. Your analysis of her trouble in terms of all these 
detailed considerations will enable you to decide very much 
more wisely just what to do with her. 

Put things together in school that need to go together in daily life 
and put them together in the same way that they will occur in life. 
If the material is complex, as in this course, then select one or more 
central conceptions and connect up situations the child will meet 
in life with this central conception and also connect up the central 
conception with the facts and principles in the course. In this way 
will you provide for efficient reproduction. 



I 



LESSON 18 

SUMMARY OF LESSONS 1 TO 17 

Components of Behavior 

Behavior can be broken up into the three components of 
Situation, Bond, and Response. 

Some Bonds are Unlearned, Others are Learned 

All acts of behavior involve a response to a situation. And 
this condition postulates the existence of a bond between situation 
and response. It is evident from the experiments which have 
been performed that bonds are formed — that at one time in a 
person's life certain bonds did not exist which later came into 
existence. Such changes are what is meant by learning-^the 
development of new bonds. A still closer study of man's behav- 
ior, especially when he is an infant, leads us to realize that there 
are some bonds which do not develop through the process of 
learning. Such bonds develop naturally: just as naturally as 
do man's teeth, hair, blood vessels, or digestive system. Situa- 
tion-bond-response combinations which develop naturally are 
referred to as reflexes or instincts. Combinations, on the other 
hand, which are acquired through learning are termed habits. 
(To be discussed further in Lessons 31 to 37.) 

Reflexes and Instincts. — A reflex is an act in which there is a 
simple stimulus as the cause of the excitation followed by a 
simple response, the bond or connection between sense-organ 
and muscle being unlearned. Reflex acts are such as jerking 
the hand away from a hot stove, winking when an object suddenly 
comes toward us, coughing when the throat is irritated, etc. An 
instinctive act, on the other hand, is one in which there is a 
more complex situation, ordinarily, followed by a more complex 
response, the bond being also unlearned. Instincts would be 
illustrated by such behavior as a mother's reaction to her baby's 
cry, fear and flight from a large animal, a boy's interest in girls, 
etc, 

127 



128 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The most important point to note in all these cases is that the 
response is always one that is made naturally without any 
training. In other words, the bond connecting situation and 
response is unlearned. This means that nervous connections 
are already formed between sense-organs and muscles, so that 
when man is confronted with certain situations he responds auto- 
matically, immediately and without conscious guidance. 

There can be no sharp line of demarcation drawn between 
reflexes and instincts any more than there can be a sharp division 
of all men into the two groups of short and tall men. Some men 
are undoubtedly short or tall, just as some unlearned perform- 
ances are clearly reflexes or instincts. But most men are neither 
decidedly short nor tall. In the same way most unlearned per- 
formances can be classified either as reflexes or instincts depend- 
ing upon the definitions set up. In a general way, reflexes are 
simple acts, involving little or no consciousness of what is being 
done and seemingly carried on by only a part of oneself, as the 
hand, eye, etc. Instincts are more complex, consciousness is 
involved, and I feel that I myself am involved, as when I pet a 
baby, or run from a bull, or get interested in a girl. 

Habits. — On the other hand, habits are situation-bond- 
response combinations which have been developed through 
training. At one time there was no bond. Unless such new 
bonds were formed man would not advance beyond the limits 
of his reflexive and instinctive equipment. 



Learning and Forgetting 

Learning consists in the formation of bonds between situations 
and responses and the strengthening of the bonds so that they 
function more efficiently. Forgetting is the opposite of learning; 
it is the effect of bonds becoming weaker and weaker until they 
no longer function. A somewhat similar effect is produced 
through interference. Freud claims that forgetting is also due 
to the fact that we want to forget, because the memory is unpleas- 
ant. It is for this cause, he says, that we forget a troublesome 
engagement. This type of forgetting may possibly be explained 
as due to interference. Take the case of the boy who is told 
that when he comes home he is to chop wood. There is here 



18 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 1 TO 17 129 

interference between spending the afternoon chopping wood and 
playing football. The latter is the stronger response due to 
habit and interest, and so ''interferes" with the other response. 
Most failures to chop wood are sheer disobedience, but sometimes 
Freud is correct in saying that the duty is actually forgotten. 

The Laws of Learning 

The laws of learning are the laws as to the formation, strength- 
ening, and reorganizing, of bonds. For example: There is 
rapid movement at first with less and less improvement as 
practice continues; improvement is never continuous — there are 
always fluctuations in the curve of learning; under certain condi- 
tions plateaus develop — periods of no apparent improvement; 
and there is a limit to improvement (physiological limit) beyond 
which we cannot go, but which is practically never reached, due 
to lack of sufficiently strenuous practice. 

Learning may be considered in terms of: (1) The formation of 
new bonds, (2) the reorganization of situation-bond-response 
combinations, and (3) the strengthening of bonds. 

Formation of New Bonds 

A new bond is formed through trial and error or stimulus 
substitution. 

Trial and error learning occurs when the response that is 
desired (1) is not connected to any stimulus at all, (2) is not 
connected to any element in the situation, or at least to any 
potent element in the situation and (3) is a complex response and 
the proper sequence or coordination of movements is not known. 

There are very few examples of the first case where there is no 
stimulus connected with the desired response. Learning to wag 
one's ears is, however, one example. Here there actually exist 
motor nerves running to the muscles that move the ears but there 
is no stimulus that will set off the movement. As the movement 
has never been made, one does not know what it is. And it is 
difficult to ascertain from watching our own performance in a 
mirror when we have really made the movement we have seen 
another make. For sometimes we move our ears but also our 
whole scalp, or the side of our face. The latter element we do 

9 



130 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

not want. To acquire this stunt means that we must just keep 
trying and trying. Because of the phenomenon of overflow of 
energy (Lesson 9) , eventually this little-used pathway to the ear 
muscles becomes w6ll used and under conscious control. 

The tri-trix puzzle, (see Plate XII), illustrates the second 
case, where the desired response is not set off by the situation. 
One accordingly makes all manner of random movements in the 
endeavor to get the four shots into the four outer holes, and 
usually does not succeed. But if one gets in some way or other 
the idea of whirling the puzzle, it is solved. The random move- 




Plate XII. — The tri-trix puzzle. It is solved when all four shot are rolled into 

the four outer holes. 



ments occur because no element in the situation sets off this 
necessary response of spinning. One of the important functions 
of teaching is to eliminate useless trial-and-error learning by so 
manipulating the situation as to have before the learner those 
elements which lead him to act as desired. The student of this 
text, for example, has learned a great deal from the experiments 
that he has had to perform and he has learned it with a minimum 
of trial and error. 

In the third case the learner may have at his disposal all the 
habits necessary to perform the act but because he does not know 
the proper sequence or coordination of the several habits he is 
forced to resort to trial-and-error learning. This is true in all 
cases of acquiring skill, whether of handwriting, skating, driving 
an automobile, using tools, or what not. A simple example may 



18 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 1 TO 17 131 

be found in the mirror-drawing experiment. Take the one 
movement of tracing a line that appears in the mirror to go away 
from the body, diagonally to the right. And, to make the case 
still simpler, suppose that the learner knows that he must draw 
toward his body when the direction appears to be away from the 
body and that he must draw to the right when the direction 
appears to the right. Even then he will have to try and try 
before he will develop just the proper coordination of movements 
that are necessary to make the compound movement. But his 
random movements will be very slight as compared with one 
who does not understand the two components that make up his 
task. Here again it is the function of the teacher to eliminate 
as much trial and error learning as possible by leading the student 
to analyze his problem into its elements and work out the response 
to the elements one at a time. But no teacher can entirely 
eliminate random movements, for coordination comes only that 
way. 

Stimulus Substitution. — New bonds can also be formed 
through stimulus substitution. In such cases there are present 
simultaneously, or in immediate succession, two stimuli followed 
by their responses. Repetition results in a bond being formed 
between Si and R2, also between S2 and Ri. Which of these two 
new bonds is primarily developed depends upon the set or attitude 
of the learner. (Refer to Lesson 11 for further discussion.) 



Reorganization of Bonds 

Here we are concerned primarily, not with the formation of 
new bonds, but in their rearrangement into new combinations. 
Most learning in school belongs here, particularly in the upper 
grades. From the standpoint of the results, three types of 
reorganization niay be distinguished: i. e., (1) linking elements 
together through the use of old bonds (associative shifting), (2) 
short-circuiting, and (3) integration. 

Associative shifting has been discussed in Lesson 11. Another 
example besides hund-hound-dog is the learning of an automobile 
hcense number, as, for example, 149,002 by associating it with 
the date Columbus discovered America with two (the same num- 
ber as the last one in the hcense number) zeros before the 



132 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

2. The whole process of thinking is largely a manipulating of 
associations that come to mind one after the other. 

Short-circuiting can be illustrated in the case of saying the 
alphabet backwards. One individual's- associations in response 
to the instructions to recite the alphabet backwards were: 
''last letter in alphabet"— ''z"—'' next to last letter"— ''y"— 
''letter before y" — "xyz" — "letter before x" — "rstuvwx" — 
"w" — "rstuvw" — "v" — "rstuv" — "v," etc. As repetition 
after repetition continued the unnecessary steps were eliminated, 
or short-circuited, until finally the alphabet was recited back- 
wards without a break. The above steps came to mind through 
associative shifting — through utilizing already existing bonds. 
The short-circuiting can be partly explained in terms of stimulus 
substitution as follows: — 

Situation Response 

w^^_^ >rstuvw 

rstuvw >v 

v:^:— >rstuv 

rstuv ^^^^^^ >u 

The repetition of almost any performance results in short- 
circuiting the unnecessary steps. And most of the improvement 
takes place without any consciousness of the changes. These 
changes are all the more likely to occur if we are attempting to 
improve the quality of the work or to cut down the time of 
doing it. If we are making no such effort, a minimum of short- 
circuiting results. 

Integrations. — This topic is discussed later in Lesson 45. A 
simple illustration of what is meant by the term is sufficient at 
this point. A child develops certain responses to the sight of 
an apple, to the feel of it in his hands, to the smell of it, to the 
taste of it, and to the sound of eating it. As all these various 
stimuli and their responses occur together, the child develops 
many fusions of them whereby, if he sees, for example, the apple, 
he may react as though he had not only seen it, but had felt it, 
smelt it, tasted it, or had heard someone crunching it. One 
stimulus arouses in this way a complex response. The reader's 
response to "learning curve" is now a response that is an inte- 
gration of many separate responses which have been more or 
less welded into one complete conception of the subject. 



18 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 1 TO 17 133 

The Strengthening of Bonds 

Bonds are strengthened by repetition, intensity, and the effect 
of satisfaction. They are weakened by lapse of time, interfer- 
ence, and the effect of dissatisfaction. 

Efficient Memory 

Efficient memory is dependent upon bonds sufficiently strong 
to function and the connecting up of what is to be remembered 
with situations that will occur when the response is desired. 

What the Learning Process Means to Education 

Evidently, learning is connecting. It is the forming of a bond 
between a situation and a response; the development of a habit. 
Clearly also, early in life the new connections will be slight modi- 
fications of reflex and instinctive actions; later the new connec- 
tions may join great groups of complex habits together into such 
complicated processes as playing the piano or solving an original 
in geometry. 

Teaching is, then, the manipulation of the details making up 
the situations which confront children so that as they respond they 
will constantly form new habits and, moreover, habits that are 
desirable ones. If the desired responses are new ones for the child 
then the learning must be of the 'Hrial-and-error" type. But 
if the desired reponse is one that is already a response to another 
situation the new situation and old response can be connected 
together through associative shifting. For example, take the 
case of a boy learning to climb over a wooden fence. If he goes 
at it alone it will be largely a matter of 'Hrial-and-error," because 
he will not analyze the entire performance into parts each of 
which he is already capable of doing. But if one who under- 
stands the movements to be made stands by and calls out 
''Now climb the ladder" he will make the movements previously 
associated with climbing a ladder. ''Now put one leg over the 
top," he will respond by throwing one leg over the top board, as 
he has often done in climbing out of his crib. "Now cross 
your hands," "Now put the other leg over," "Now face me," 
"Now cHmb down," he will climb over the fence in a fairly smooth 



134 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

and efficient way the first time. He does so because he has util- 
ized old responses, one at a time, and he has utilized them because 
the old situations connected with them have been presented by 
the parent in the proper sequence. A little practice, then, results 
in connecting all of these responses together in a string just as 
the responses in saying each letter of the alphabet are connected 
together. 

In what has gone before we have obtained a general conception 
of the learning process and of the mechanism by which situations 
become linked up with responses. In the lessons to follow we 
shall take up the matter of learning in greater detail. But the 
whole subject centers about this main theme just expressed, that 
the child's learning is conditioned by the skill the teacher displays 
in presenting situations to him. Lessons are difficult or easy 
depending not on the material of the lesson, ordinarily, but upon 
the order of presentation of the details in the lesson — an order 
depending upon what habits the child has already acquired. 

Learning the characteristics of the learning process, as you 
are doing in this course, can be made by any particular author 
to fit any one of the types of learning. He can supply you with 
every detail in one, two, three order and expect you to memorize 
the material and through drill have you recite it as glibly as you 
do the alphabet. Or he can assign very indefinite problems and 
leave you to discover the elements and their order of relationship. 
The former, however, will not result in your obtaining a workable 
use of the material: the latter will take too long and is too dis- 
couraging, although if you do learn this way you have a wonderful 
grasp of the subject. Consequently, the present author prefers 
to introduce each topic by way of an experiment whereby you will 
have to work out the answers yourself. Then to follow the experi- 
ment with a discussion so that missing material may be identified 
and learned and the relationship of the various parts fully 
comprehended. 



LESSON 19 

MEASURING DIFFERENCES OF PERFORMANCE AMONG 
INDIVIDUALS— THE AVERAGE DEVIATION 

The general characteristics of learning have now been pre- 
sented. Differences between individuals have so far been ignored 
in our eagerness to discover the common principles found true 
of all individuals. 

It is important to stop now and resurvey some of our material 
to see to what extent individuals are alike and to what extent 
they are different, and in what the differences consist. 

In order to make these studies effectively it is necessary to 
become familiar with three mathematical conceptions, known as 
the ''average deviation" (discussed in this lesson), the ''normal 
curve of distribution" (Lesson 24), and the "coefficient of corre- 
lation" (Lesson 28). 

All of these conceptions are basic to modern psychology, as 
well as to biology, sociology, economics, education, etc., and are 
worth understanding for their own sake, as well as for their use 
as tools in applying scientific principles to everyday problems. 



The Average Deviation 

Two fourth grade classes (A and B) were given the same test. 
The scores of the forty students were as follows : 



135 



136 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Class A 



Pupils 



Grades 



Class B 



Pupils 



Grades 



1 


96 


21 


87/ 


2 


88 


22 


80 


3 


80 


23 


74 


4 


80 


24 


73 


5 


68 


25 


64 


6 


68 


26 


63 


7 


60 


27 


58 


8 


60 


28 


57 


9 


56 


29 


56 


10 


56 


30 


55 


11 


52 


31 


53 


12 


52 


32 


52 


13 


44 


33 


46 


14 


40 


34 


43 


15 


36 


35 


41 


16 


36 


36- 


40 


17 


24 


37 


32 


18 


24 


38 


31 


19 


24 


39 


30 


20 


16 


40 


25 


Total 


1060 




1060 


Average 


53 




53 



When we average the twenty grades in each class we find the 
averages are the same, i. e., 53. But when we look over the scores 
we discover immediately that the two classes are not equal in 
performance. Class A has two students superior to any in 
Class B and four students inferior to the poorest in Class B. 
As far as this particular test is concerned it shows that the stu- 
dents in Class A are more unlike among themselves than are the 
students in Class B. In other words, there are greater differ- 
ences in ability in Class A than Class B. 

Such differences in ability in classes form an important con- 
sideration in the administration of a school. For the more 
homogeneous a class, the easier it is to handle. One of the duties 
of a principal is to assign pupils so as to have the smallest differ- 
ences possible in a class. We shall come to appreciate this point 
more fully in the next few lessons. 



A 
19 MEASURING DIFFERENCES OF PERFORMANCE 137 

It is clear that to state that Classes A and B have the same 
average is not sufficient. The total grades tell us another 
important point. But it is extremely awkward to have to 
reproduce in a report all of the grades of the pupils. Is there not 
some short-cut method by which these individual differences 
can be expressed? 

It is just this that the '^ average deviation" gives us. It is a 
measurement used as a supplement to the average in studying 
individual differences. This measurement means exactly what 
the two words imply — the average amount of difference of the 
individuals making up the group from the average of the group 
as a whole. Consider carefully how it is obtained in the follow- 
ing examples (Table II).. First, the average of the figures them- 
selves is obtained. Second, the difference between the average 
and each separate figure is obtained. Third, the average of these 
differences or deviations is obtained. This is the average devia- 
tion (A. D.). 

Knowing the average for each class and the average deviations, 
i. e., 

Class A— Average 53, A. D. 18.2 
Class B— Average 53, A. D. 13.7 

we can readily determine, if we do not have the original data, that 
there was a very great variation in the individuals. But of the 
two classes Class B is more homogeneous. We know now for 
certain that the average does not represent what all twenty 
pupils did. Far from it. Some must have varied above and 
below 53 by more than 18.2 (or in Class B more than 13.7) in 
order that the average of all the deviations should be 18.2. 

It is mathematically true that very few cases will ever differ 
from the average by more than three times the A. D. For 
example, it is unlikely we would have pupils in Class A with 
grades higher than 53 + (3 X 18.2) or 107.6, or lower than 53- 
(3 X 18.2) or -1.6; and in Class B higher than 53 + (3 X 13.7) 
or 94.1, or lower than 53 - (3 X 13.7), or 11.9. In these 
particular classes we do not have any cases varying as much as 
these limits. 



138 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Table II. — Illustrating the Method op Obtaining the 

Deviation (A. D.) 



Average 



The left hand of the table illustrates the work, involved in obtaining the 
A. D. of the grades of the 20 pupils in Class A, while the right half of the 
table shows similarly the work involved in obtaining the A. D. grades in 
Class B. 



Class A 


Class B 


Pupils 


Scores 


Differences 


Pupils 


Scores 


Differences 


1 


96 


96 - 53 =43 


21 


87 


87 - 53 = 34 


2 


88 


88 - 53 = 35 


22 


80 


80 - 53 = 27 


3 


80 


80 - 53 = 27 


23 


74 


74 -- 53 = 21 


4 


80 


80 - 53 = 27 


24 


73 


73 - 53 = 20 


5 


68 


68 - 53 = 15 


25 


64 


64 - 53 = 11 


6 


68 


68 - 53 = 15 


26 


63 


63 - 53 = 10 


7 


60 


60 - 53 = 7 


27 


58 


58 - 53 = 5 


8 


60 


60 - 53 = 7 


28 


57 


57 - 53 = 4 


9 


56 


56 - 53 = 3 


29 


56 


56 - 53 = 3 


10 


56 


56 - 53 = 3 


30 


55 


.55 - 53 = 2 


11 


52 


53 - 52 = 1 


31 


53 


53 - 53 = 


12 


52 


53 - 52 = 1 


32 


52 


53 - 52 = 1 


13 


44 


53 - 44 = 9 


33 


46 


53 - 46 = 7 


14 


40 


53 - 40 = 13 


34 


43 


53 - 43 = 10 


15 


36 


53 - 36 = 17 


35 


41 


53 - 41 = 12 


16 


36 


53 - 36 = 17 


36 


40 


53 - 40 = 13 


17 


24 


53 - 24 = 29 


37 


32 


53 - 32 = 21 


18 


24 


53 - 24 = 29 


38 


31 


53 - 31 = 22 


19 


24 


53 - 24 = 29 


39 


30 


53 - 30 = 23 


20 


16 


53 - 16 = 37 


40 


25 


53 - 25 = 28 


Total. . . 


1060 


364 




1060 


274 


Av 


53 


18.2 




53 


13.7 


The A. r 


). is 18.2- 


-the average of 


The A. ] 


D. is 13.7 


— the average of 


the differences ( 


deviations). 


the c 


differences 


(deviations). 



Problems 

Find the A. D. of the grades in the following classes: 

1. Class C is composed of pupils 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17j and 19 m 
Class A given above. 

2. Class D is composed of pupils 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20. 

3. Class E is composed of pupils 1 to 5, and 16 to 20. 

4. Class F is composed of pupils 6 to 15, inclusive. 



19 MEASURING DIFFERENCES OF PERFORMANCE 139 

Check your answers with the instructor at the next class-hour. If 
incorrect spend part of that hour making sure you understand how to 
get an A. D. 

Note. — Bring coordinate paper with you to the next class-hour. 



LESSON 20 

HOW DO INDIVIDUALS DIFFER IN LEARNING MIRROR- 
DRAWING? 

We have so far studied a number of learning curves. We have 
discovered some general facts about the process of learning — 
about the process of learning taken on the average. But it is 
worth while to stop and consider whether all individuals learn in 
the same way. 

We know that people differ. We know that they differ in the 
way they do a certain lesson, that they differ in the time it takes 
them to learn the lesson, in the way they answer questions 
about the lesson, etc. We know some get good marks and some 
get poor marks. Why are there all these differences? What 
are the causes of individual differences? 

Let us consider just one of these problems. Let us study the 
data from 10 individuals in the mirror-drawing experiment and 
see in what respects they are alike and in what respects they are 
different. 

Below are given the results of ten individuals (called A to J) in 
the mirror-drawing experiment. The records are a combination 
of their time and error data. Endeavor to discover by yourself, 
together with the help of your partner, as many ways as you can 
in which these records are (1) aHke and (2) different. That is, 
exactly what are the characteristics which are common to the 
learning of these ten individuals and, on the other hand, in what 
respects do the records of their learning differ? 

The Use of Tables of Statistics versus Curves. — When confronted 
with many figures as in Table III, one should endeavor by some 
means or other to present them in a diagram or set of curves. 
No one can grasp the significance of a complex set of figures 
from studying the figures themselves with anywhere near the 
ease that he can from seeing those same figures set forth in 
curves. In general, curves should be used for discovering or for 
presenting general relationships, while tables should be used 
when the facts need to be ascertained very accurately. 

140 



20 



HOW DO INDIVIDUALS DIFFER IN LEARNING? 141 



Table III. — Records of Ten Different Individuals (A — J) in Mirror- 
drawing Experiment^ 



Trials 


A 


B 


C 


D 


E 


F 


G 


H 

1 


I 


J 


Aver- 
age 


1 


232 


76 


210 


363 


216 


286 


283 


701 


129 


131 


263 


2 . 


193 


77 


152 


167 


147 


144 


148 


184 


94 


90 


140 


3 


157 


80 


115 


128 


160 


109 


69 


148 


98 


75 


114 


4 


115 


68 


108 


143 


113 


141 


66 


144 


91 


67 


106 


5 


133 


70 


108 


132 


110 


97 


76 


98 


84 


75 


98 


6 


88 


57 


115 


125 


103 


99 


59 


90 


69 


64 


87 


7 


87 


65 


96 


121 


90 


97 


50 


87 


67 


67 


83 


8 


90 


62 


92 


149 


91 


111 


53 


81 


75 


51 


86 


9 


102 


65 


62 


140 


92 


101 


48 


79 


70 


49 


81 


10 


88 


54 


71 


121 


75 


89 


56 


72 


55 


49 


73 


11 


102 


59 


68 


121 


90 


115 


56 


71 


66 


51 


80 


12 


88 


63 


59 


112 


74 


87 


51 


58 


57 


55 


70 


13 


87 


51 


56 


95 


64 


90 


50 


63 


55 


47 


66 


14 


79 


57 


58 


95 


70 


87 


44 


56 


59 


46 


65 


15 


89 


53 


60 


86 


75 


81 


43 


55 


59 


38 


64 


16 


64 


48 


55 


114 


59 


84 


38 


54 


51 


44 


61 


17 


68 


46 


61 


100 


62 


81 


36 


54 


59 


43 


61 


18 


71 


37 


53 


116 


59 


71 


43 


62 


54 


30 


60 


19 


55 


49 


42 


122 


51 


69 


40 


53 


52 


31 


56 


20 


61 


50 


58 


85 


52 


70 


35 


60 


40 


36 


55 



The Assignment 



Two or three 



First of all, then, plot the ten sets of figures, 
curves can be drawn on the same sheet of paper. 

Now from a study of your curves and your table ascertain 
whether all ten agree or disagree on the following points: 

1. Do they show improvement with practice? 

2. Do they show the same initial efficiency? 

3. Do they show the same final efficiency? 

1 The data presented here were actually obtained from ten individuals. 
The individuals have been so selected, however, that the conclusions 
obtained from these data will agree very closely with similar calculations 
based on a study of 56 individuals. The averages obtained from 56 men 
and women are respectively:— 242, 159, 137, 120, 114, 99, 94, 86, 88, 83 
79, 76, 74, 74, 70, 70, 68, 64, 64, 63. 

Each figure represents the time consumed in doing the drawing plus the, 
numl)er of errors that were made in that drawing. 



142 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

4. Is a greater gain made during the first five trials" than during 

the last five? 

5. Is progress regular or irregular? 

6. Do all curves show an equal gain? 

Back up each of your assertions with proof from your data. 

Second, if we should arrange the ten individuals according to 
their initial ability in this performance we would have them in 
this order: B(76), 1(129), J(131), C(210), E(216), A(232), 
G(283), F(286), D(363), and H(701). Copy this order onto a 
sheet of paper so that the letters will appear in a column one 
under the other. Now arrange the ten individuals according to 
their final ability in this performance in a similar column. Study 
the relationship between the two columns of letters and then 
decide whether individuals who are best at the start are best at 
the end or not. Does your conclusion hold good for all ten or 
for only the majority? If you have exceptions to your rule, can 
you explain why there should be these exceptions? Make a 
further comparison (a) between the order of proficiency at the 
start and the order at the tenth trial, and (b) between the order 
at the tenth trial and the order at the last trial. 

Do you think that B, who is best at the start and fourth at the 
end, and I, who was second at the start and third at the end, will 
do better, equal to, or poorer than D and H in arithmetic, geog- 
raphy, running a grocery store, or driving a plow? Explain. 
What significance, if any, do you think there is in the superiority 
of B and I over D and H in this performance? How would G 
compare in these respects with the four (i. e., B, I, D and H)? 

Hand in your report at the next class-hour, written up in the 
usual manner. 



LESSON 21 

INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERAL SUBJECT OF 
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 

Individuals differ very materially with respect to every human 
trait. If we compare them with respect to height, or weight, or 
muscular strength, or lung capacity, or eyesight, or hearing, or 
color of hair, or spelling ability, or musical ability, or inventive 
power, or any other trait, we find that they all differ from one 
another in these respects. When one is at first confronted with 
all these differences one is very apt to become utterly confused 
and feel that there is no order at all in this chaos of human differ- 
ences. The person who is the tallest is not always the heaviest. 
In fact, he may be very thin and weigh comparatively little. 
The person who has the best eyesight may have any color of hair 
and may have very good or very poor hearing. The musician 
may also be a poet or he may be unable to express himself very 
clearly in any way except on his musical instrument. 

Still as we progress in our study of these differences we come to 
see that all is not chaos, that there is some system underlying the 
matter. As yet science has worked out but few of the great 
laws involved. But a start has been made, and already we have 
been helped in understanding the peculiarities of our friends and 
pupils. 

There is no more important subject for the teacher in psy- 
chology than this subject of individual differences. If we were 
all alike then teaching would be a comparatively easy subject. 
We would need to know just the physical, mental, and moral 
dimensions and requirements of the standard and then devise 
one set of methods which would fit in every case and inevitably 
produce good spellers, writers, etc. But people are not alike. 
And this fact means that no one method will work with every 
individual. Methods of teaching when applied to certain 

143 



144 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

children will produce the desired result and when applied to 
other children will produce no result worth while or possibly 
just the opposite result from that desired. Undoubtedly some 
of the children who fail in the 4th Grade fail because the wrong 
methods were applied to them. If other methods had been 
applied some of these failures would have succeeded but, on the 
other hand, some of those who succeeded would then have 
failed. What is needed today is that teachers become expert in 
understanding the differences in children and so be able to apply 
intelligently varying methods to varying needs. Without doubt 
the teacher of the future is going to become a diagnostician in 
much the same way that a physician is. The latter studies 
symptoms, diagnoses the diseases, prescribes the treatment, and 
if he is fortunate directs that treatment until the patient is 
cured. The teacher of the future will be one who will understand 
the peculiarities of children and on the basis of these peculiarities 
or differences diagnose the reason as to why the child is not 
developing properh^, prescribe the treatment, and carry it out 
to a successful end. This is exactly what is now being attempted 
in our special classes for the defective. And although possibly 
it is easier to do this with defectives than with normal children, 
yet society cannot permit the poorest and most worthless one- 
tenth of our children to have a better type of teaching than that 
given to the remainder, who will have to carry not only their 
own burdens, but also a large share of the burdens of the defective 
class. 

Now let us turn and consider such facts and principles as we 
can discover concerning individual differences. 

Individual Differences, Based on Mirror-drawing 

Experiment 

It is clear from a study of the learning curves of the ten indi- 
viduals recorded in Lesson 20 that they all agree in that: — • 

1. They show improvement with practice. 

2. They make greater gain at the start than at the end of the 
practice. 

3. They progress irregularly, i. e., they do not always advance 
but sometimes do more poorly than in the preceding trial. We 
shall find after studying many examples of learning that these 



21 INTRODUCTION TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 145 

three facts remain true. Even though individuals differ tre- 
mendously, yet they do not differ as regards these respects. 
Continued practice does produce improvement in a performance in 
the long run, hut it may not he apparent when two or three or even 
more successive trials are alone compared. Improvement is also 
greater at the start of practice than at the end. 

On the other hand, individuals differ as regards: — 

1. Initial efficiency. 

2. Final efficiency. 

3. Amount of improvement. 

This is clear from the data in Table III. It will be found to be 
true when any set of data is studied. 

The Use of the Average as a Measure of a Group 

We can obtain an average from the records of a large or small 
number of individuals. Such an average record is given in the 
last column of Table III. When we study this average record 
from ten individuals we realize that it is an expression of the 
entire ten records. But it is not typical of what any one person 
would do. No one of the ten did the mirror-drawing in 263 
units (of time and accuracy combined). The nearest to this 
record was G, who did the experiment in 283 units, differing 
thereby from the average by 20 units. On the other hand, B 
(the best of the ten) beat this average by 187 units, and H (the 
poorest of the ten) was poorer than the average by 438 units. 
Clearly a great many interesting facts are covered up or lost by 
referring to the average as an expression of what this group of 
ten individuals could do. By knowing only that the group 
averaged 263 units for its first trial we would have no knowledge 
of how much the ten had differed or varied from each other. 

We have come also to realize that any individual learning 
curve is not perfectly smooth but has a great variety of 
fluctuations in it. In other words, although a person may be 
progressing, his successive performances may not necessarily show 
this. Sometimes he gains, sometimes he loses, but on the whole 
he is advancing. Now our average record of the ten individuals 
in the mirror-drawing experiment is singularly free from such 
fluctuations. Only twice does the curve rise (show decrease in 
efficiency) and then only for slight amounts. From a study of 

10 



146 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

the average curve we would be led to the false notion that 
improvement is very steady and even. But such, we realize, 
is not the case. Evidently, then, the average, although very 
useful, is not a sufficient measure of a class performance to tell 
us all that we need to know about that class. 

Consider another example taken from a survey of the Demon- 
stration School of George Peabody College for Teachers.^ 

All of the children in Grades IV to VIII were tested with the 
Kansas Silent Reading Test. This test consists of a number of 
paragraphs like the following: — 

No. 1 

Value The air near the ceiling of a room is warm, while that on the 

1 . floor is cold. Two boys are in the room, James on the floor and 

Harry on a box eight feet high. Which boy has the warmer place? 



No. 2 

Value If gray is darker than white and black is darker than gray, what 
1.3 color of those named in this sentence is lighter than gray? 



No. 3 

Value We can see through glass, so we call it transparent. We cannot 
1 . 6 see through iron, so We call it opaque. Is black ink opaque, or is it 
transparent? 



The children are allowed five minutes in which to read over as 
many of these paragraphs as they can and to execute the direc- 
tions in each. They are scored in terms of the paragraphs to 
which they have correctly reacted, each paragraph counting 
proportionately to its determined difficulty or value. 

In Table IV are presented the average scores of the five grades, i 
together with the norms for those grades. A norm is a standard * 
set for a grade after testing thousands of children so as to know 
exactly what the average is. From these figures it is clear that | 
with respect to this method of testing silent reading the children 
in the five grades are superior to children throughout the country 

1 C. C. Denny. The Peabody Demonstration School in the Light of Standard 
Tests. Unpublished thesis in the library of George Peabody College for 
Teachers. 



VII 


VIII 


16.5 


23.4 


16.5 


19.2 



21 INTRODUCTION TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 147 

as in all the grades except VII the average of the grade is superior 
to the norm and in Grade VII the figures are equal to the norm. 

Table IV. — Average Scores and Norms, Grades IV to VIII 

Kansas Silent Reading Scale 
Grades IV V VI 

Averages 13.0 15.7 16.8 

Norms 9.4 13.4 13.8 

As has been said the averages ''show the school to be in most 
excellent condition." However, if this is all that the class-room 
teacher is to learn from the test, the very knowledge that should 
enable her to give her pupils, as individuals, the best possible 
instruction will have been missed. The scores, in rank order, of 
all the pupils in the various grades are shown in Table V. The 
data given in this table show some astounding individual differ- 
ences. For instance, the lowest score in the fourth grade is less 
than one-sixth of the highest score in the same grade; 60% of all 
the pupils in the fourth grade made a better score than the poorest 
score in the eighth grade; 17% of all the pupils in the fourth 
grade made a better score than the norm for the eighth grade; 
while all the pupils, except six, in the fourth grade made a better 
score than the lowest score in the seventh grade. In general, the 
highest score made in each grade is approximately 200% of the 
norm for that grade; while in three grades, IV, V, and VII, the 
lowest score is less than half the norm. 

''Since reading is fundamental and basic to most of the other 
studies in the school, this wide variation in individual scores 
indicates the complexity of the problem confronting the class- 
room teacher. Why did the poorest fourth grade pupil make 
only a score of 3.9, and the best one make 24? Is one endowed 
by nature with six times as much reading power as the other? 
Did the form and manner of instruction in reading fit one six 
times as well as the other? Or is the wide difference due to other 
causes? The facts of Table V raise innumerable administrative 
problems. If the school is to be organized so that each indi- 
vidual pupil may get greatest good from the instruction given, 
teacher, principal, superintendent, school board, and community 
must realize this wide variation and cooperate in the organization 
and administration of a system which takes individual differences 
into consideration." 



148 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Table V. — Individual Scores by Rank Order, Grades IV to VIII 

Kansas Silent Reading Test 
Grades 



Pupil 


IV 


V 


VI 


VII 


VIII 


1 


24.0 


28.1 


34.6 


32.6 


34.6 


2 


21.7 


25.4 


32.2 


28.3 


34.6 


3 


20.3 


23.3 


26.3 


24.1 


31.6 


4 


19.9 


22.3 


24.0 


22.3 


31.6 


5 


19.7 


22.3 


23.4 


21.3 


30.3 


6 


18.4 


* 21.4 


22.5 


20.7 


28.3 


7 


16.7 


21.4 


22.3 


20.0 


27.3 


8 


16.7 


19.7 


21.0 


19.3 


26.3 


9 


15.5 


19.3 


20.1 


18.5 


22.3 


10 


15.1 


18.4 


19.1 


17.7 


21.7 


11 


15.0 


18.3 


18.4 


17.7 


20.7 


12 


14.8 


17.3 


18.1 


17.7 


19.7 


13 


14.4 


17.1 


17.5 


17.4 


18.6 


14 


13.4 


16.1 


16.1 


17.1 


18.4 


15 


13.1 


16.1 


14.8 


16.1 


15.4 


16 


12.8 


15.8 


14.8 


15.8 


13.8 


17 


12.8 


15.4 


14.4 


15.7 


13.0 


18 


12.5 


13.4 


14.4 


15.1 


12.3 


19 


11.3 


13.4 


14:3 


14.1 




20 


11.2 


12.9 


13.8 


13.2 




21 


10.4 


12.6 


13.5 


11.5 




22 


9.0 


12.4 


13.4 


11.2 




23 


9.0 


12.4 


13.2 


10.6 




24 


8.9 


12.2 


12.8 


10.6 




25 


6.2 


11.7 


11.1 


8.8 




26 


6.2 


10.6 


10.9 


8.8 




27 


6.2 


10.6 


10.7 


8.8 




28 


6.2 


8.9 


9.1 


8.1 




29 


5.7 


8.7 


8.5 






30 


3.9 


8.5 


8.4 






31 




8.5 


8.1 






32 




6.3 








Average 


13.0 


15.7 


16.8 


16.5 


23.4 



The Use of the A. D. as a Measure of Individual 

Differences 

We have seen thus far that the average is not a sufficient 
measure for presenting the proficiency of a group ofindividuals. 



21 INTRODUCTION TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 149 

And in Lesson 19 some of the advantages of the average deviation 
were presented. The subject warrants further consideration. 

The average of the initial trials in the case of the ten individuals 
recorded in Table III is 263; the average deviation is 118. The 
average of the final trials is 55 and the average deviation 12. 
Knowing the A. D. as well as the average for the initial and final 
trials in the mirror-drawing experiment we can readily determine, 
if we do not have the original data, that there was a very great 
variation in the individuals at the start, and still considerable 
difference in their proficiency at the end of the practice. We 
know that the ten individuals differed on the average 118 units 
from the average of 263 units. We know now for certain that 
the average does not represent what all ten individuals did. 
Far from it. Some must have varied above and below 263 bj^ 
more than 118 in order that the average of all the deviations 
should be 118. On the other hand we can tell, by knowing that 
the final trial averaged 55 with an A. D. of 12, that the ten must 
all be fairly close to the average, probably none varying more 
than three times the A. D. or by more than 36. That is, no 
record would probably be better than 19 (55 — 36) or poorer 
than 91 (55 + 36). (As an actual fact among 56 men and 
women the best record has been 33 (55 — 2 times the A. D.) 
and the poorest was 118 (55 + 5 times the A. D.). But there 
are only two records in the 56 which are poorer than three times 
the A. D. (i. e., 91) — one being the 118 already referred to and 
the other being 93.) 

In a similar way the A. D. may be determined for the data in 
Table V concerning the silent reading ability of children in the 
five grades. We then have: — 

Av. Score, Silent Reading Grade IV 13.0 A. D. 4.2 

Av. Score, Silent Reading Grade V 15.7 A. D. 4. 5 

Av. Score, Silent Reading Grade VI 16.8 A. D. 5. 3 

Av. Score, Silent Reading Grade VII 16.5 A. D. 4. 5 

Av. Score, Silent Reading Grade VIII 23.4 A. D. 6.4 

The presence of these average deviations helps us considerably 
in estimating how much the various children in the two classes 
differ from their average. 

The more one uses this measure — the A. D. — the more it 
comes to mean; but still it never does tell as much as one can 



150 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

read from the original data themselves when displayed in 
tabular form as in Table V. 

Relationship of Initial and Final Ability 

When the ten individuals are arranged in *' order of merit" 
according to initial and final ability it is clear that on the whole 
those who are best at the start are best at the end. G is mark- 
edly an exception to the rule, starting at sixth place and ending 
first. H also gains four places, progressing from tenth to sixth 
place. G was actually a student of markedly superior ability, 
but noted for awkwardness of movement. He tackled the experi- 
ment with misgivings as to his ability to do it thinking it was 
largely a feat of arm movement. He learned very rapidly and 
surprised himself with his performance. 

Knowing nothing of these ten individuals but their initial 
scores, it would be safer to hire the first two to work in a store or 
on a farm, than the last two. This is true, because the test 
does measure general ability to some extent. But because the 
test is far from a perfect measure of ability, individuals hired 
on the basis of it would not always come up to expectations. 
This we see in the case of G, who, on the basis of the final score, 
is better than either B or I. 



LESSON 22 

HOW DO DIFFERENT GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS 

DIFFER WITH RESPECT TO LEARNING SIMPLE 

ARITHMETICAL COMBINATIONS? 

In this lesson we shall devote our attention to how individuals 
differ in the simplest processes of arithmetic, i. e., simple addi- 
tion and simple multiplication. Some of the questions involved 
are: How do I differ from other adults in a working knowledge 
of the multiplication table? Am I more or less rapid in my work 
than the average adult? Am I more or less accurate than the 
average adult? How do adults differ from children in these 
respects? How do children differ among themselves? Besides 
ascertaining some of the facts in these cases, we shall commence 
to ask ourselves the further question — what is the cause of these 
differences? 

First of all the members of the laboratory section will use the 
B-Test blank, on which appears eighty simple problems in addi- 

4 1 
tion, such as 7 3, etc. The class will be given one minute in 

which to do as many of these problems as they can do. After 
that the class will be tested as to their proficiency in multiplica- 
tion, using the BX-Test blank. The papers will then be scored 
and the averages and average deviations of the two tests worked 
out for the class. When that is finished the laboratory pairs 
will proceed as usual by themselves, taking up the various parts 
of the assignment in order and doing as much as they can during 
the remainder of the hour. As each part is finished it will be 
advisable for the members of the class to consult with the 
instructor in order to make sure that they have understood the 
instructions and have executed them properly. 

Problem. — How do adults differ as to their ability to solve 
simple addition and multiplication problems? 

Apparatus. — A B-Test and a BX-Test blank, watch. 

Procedure. — When all in the laboratory section are ready, turn 
face down the page on which the B-Test is given. The instructor 

151 



152 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

will give two signals, ''Get Ready," and ''Go." At the latter 
signal, turn the sheet over and solve as many problems as you 
can during the one minute allowed you. At the signal, "Stop," 
stop your work wherever you are and hold up your right hand, so 
that the instructor can have visible proof that you have actually 
stopped. (These instructions you will undoubtedly have cause 
to use later on yourself, as a teacher. You now have an oppor- 
tunity to know how it feels to take a test of this sort.) 









B Test — Addition 










ime. . 










.Age. .. 


. . . .Grade. . . 






3 





3 


11 


12 


9 


7 


6 


4 


2 


11 


8 


2 


7 


4 





8 


5 


8 


1 


8 


5 


8 


12 


6 


9 


2 


11 


12 





12 


1 





5 


10 


5 


10 


3 


1 


7 


1 


10 


4 


9 


6 


7 


12 


1 


7 


6 


8 


7 


12 


1 


6 


3 


9 


4 


12 


1 


7 


6 


4 


9 


10 


2 


1 


10 


8 


5 


2 


11 


7 


6 


3 


6 


9 


6 


3 


10 





8 


10 


7 


3 


6 


5 


4 


8 


3 


3 


4 


10 


11 


3 


2 


5 


3 


5 


6 


11 


7 





9 


11 


4 


8 


5 


8 


6 


4 


7 


11 


10 


11 





8 


4 


9 


7 


3 


10 


3 





12 


1 


9 


1 


4 


5 


12 


1 


7 


2 


8 


5 


9 





9 





12 


5 


2 


11 


2 





2 


4 


10 


2 


11 


9 


2 


8 


5 


12 


11 


4 


11 


9 



22 HOW DO GROUPS DIFFER? 153 

BX-Test — Multiplication 
Name 



3 





3 


11 


12 


9 


7 


6 


4 


2 


11 


8 


2 


7 


4 





8 


5 


8 


1 


8 


5 


8 


12 


6 


9 


2 


11 


12 





12 


1 





5 


10 


5 


10 


3 


1 


7 


1 


10 


4 


9 


6 


7 


12 


1 


7 


6 


8 


7 


12 


1 


6 


3 


9 


4 


12 


1 


7 


6 


4 


9 


10 


2 


1 


10 


8 


5 


2 


11 


7 


6 


3 


6 


9 


6 


3 


10 





8 


10 


7 


* 

3 


6 


5 


4 


8 


3 


3 


4 


10 


11 


3 


2 


5 


3 


5 


6 


11 


7 





9 


11 


4 


8 


5 


8 


6 


4 


7 


11 


10 


11 





8 


4 


9 


7 


3 


10 


3 





12 


1 


9 


1 


4 


5 


12 


1 


7 


2 


8 


5 


9 





9 





12 


5 


2 


11 


2 





2 


4 


10 


2 


11 


9 


2 


8 


5 


12 


11 


4 


11 


9 



Trade papers with some other member of the class. The 
instructor will then call out the correct answers to the addition 
problems. Every mistake on the paper before you should be 
indicated by drawing a conspicuous circle around it. Indicate 
at the top of the page the total number of problems performed, 
the number incorrect, and the number correct. A convenient 
form for doing this, ''65 - 3 = 62," or ''60 - = 60," where 
the first number indicates the number performed, the second the 
number wrong, and the third the number correct. 



154 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Return the papers to their owners, who then may look them 
over to see if they have been corrected properly. In case of a 
controversy the scorer should be the final judge. Ambiguously 
written figures should be scored against. 

Repeat the above with the BX-Test blank to test ability in 
simple multiplication. 

Results. — The instructor will now record the data of the two 
tests on the board and with the aid of the class determine the 
averages and average deviations of the class. Any errors char- 
acteristic of the class should also be recorded. 

Interpretation and Application. — Combine into one general 
discussion at the close of your report the interpretations and 
applications to this problem and those that follow. 

Part No. 2 

Problem. — How do adults differ from 4th Grade children in 
their ability to solve simple multiplication and addition problems? 
Apparatus. — The data in Table VI. 

Table VI.- — Showing Average Number of Addition and Multiplica- 
tion Problems Solved Correctly in One Minute by Adults 
AND 4th Grade Children in 10 (and 14) Trials on Different 

Days 





Addition (B-test) 


Multiplication (BX-test) 


Trials 












Adults 


4th Grade 
Children 


Adults 


4th Grade 
Children 


1 


59 


19 


40 


11 


2 


67 


21 


50 


15 


3 


69 


22 


52 


16 


4 


69 


23 


55 


. 17 


5 


71 


25 


58 


19 


G 


72 


26 


61 


20 


7 


74 


27 


61 


21 


8 


75 


28 


62 


21 


9 


75 


29 


64 


23 


10 


76 


30 


64 


24 


11 




31 




25 


12 




32 




26 


13 




32 




27 


14 




33 




28 



22 now DO GROUPS DIFFER? 155 

Note. — The children were allowed two minutes instead of 
one minute to work at the blank. Their records are expressed 
in terms of what they did in i minute i. e., half of their 2-min- 
ute record. 

Procedure and Results. — Plot these data. Arrange your 
vertical scale so that it will extend from to 80. Connect the 
points on the addition curves with a solid line, and the points on 
the multiplication curves with a dotted line. 

Part No. 3 

Problem. — How do normal 4th Grade children differ from 
badly retarded children of the same age in their ability to solve 
simple addition problems? 

Apparatus. — The data in Table VI and the following informa- 
tion: A class of 2B Grade children were tested by M. Phillips 
with the B-Test. These children averaged QJ-^ years (just what 
the usual 4th Grade averages). They had repeated the work 
of the first and second grades several times and were considered 
by the authorities to be practically hopeless. They were put 
(1) through the B-Test on ten successive days; (2) through the 
C-Test (identical to the B-Test except for the combinations 
which were new) on ten more days; (3) given 10 minutes drill on 
15 successive days on the problems of the B-Test; and (4) again 
given the B-Test for 10 successive days. Parts (2) and (3) 
represent 170 minutes drill devoted to simple addition problems 
distributed over 25 days. The average records of the class in 
parts (1) and. (4) with the B-Test are as follows: — 

Trials Part 1 Part 4 

14 7 

2 5 . 8 

3 5 8 

4 5 9 

5 6 9 

6 6 10 

7 6 10 

8 6 10 

9 7 11 
10 7 11 

Procedure, Etc. — ^Handle these data as in Part 2. Bear in 
mind that the averages (i. e., norms) for a Demonstration School 
and for adults were as follows: 



156 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Grades 


Norms in Addition 

(B-Test) 

Oct., 1915 Feb., 1917 


Norms in Multiplication 

(BX-Test) 

Oct., 1915 Feb., 1917 


III 


^ , 






15 








6 


IV 


19 






29 


11 






20 


V 


26 






37 


17 






26 


VI 


. . 






40 


. , 






25 


VII 


18 






44 


27 






27 


VIII 


20 






43 


30 






30 


IX 








49 


, . 






30 


Adults 


59 






59 


40 






40 



The differences in the norms on the two different dates is due, 
first to the fact that in the second case the grades had had three 
months more schooHng by February than in October and, 
second, to the fact that during the interval a considerable amount 
of time was spent in the school speeding the children up. That 
this was very much needed is clearly apparent from the figures. 
In justice to the Demonstration School it should be noted here 
that the first set of norms was taken very shortly after the 
opening of the school and the poor work represented the training 
these children had received prior to entering the school. 

Procedure and Results. — Plot the learning curves of the 
mentally defective children on the same graph as your other 
curves. 

Note : In these experiments the same blank was used each day. 
Some of the learning consists in more or less learning of answers 
in a regular order. If a different arrangement of the little 
problems had been presented each time, the curves would not 
have gone up so rapidly. 

Interpretation of the Three Parts to This Problem. — What do 
you deduce as to how various classes of individuals differ with 
respect to learning simple addition and multiplication combina- 
tions? Have these three groups of individuals become more or 
less alike as the result of ten days' practice? What effect has 
this fact upon our present plan of school administration? 

Application. — Hand in your report at the next class-hour. 



LESSON 23 

THE THREE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES- 
ENVIRONMENT, HEREDITY, AND TRAINING 

We have noted already that all individuals are alike in that 
they profit by practice; that they show greater gain at the begin- 
ning of practice than at any later time; and that the rate of 
improvement is irregular, an individual showing remarkable gains 
with certain trials and equally surprising *' slumps" with other 
trials. We have also noted that individuals differ as to (1) 
initial performance, (2) final performance, and (3) the amount of 
improvement resulting from any given amount of practice. 
Let us now consider these differences in greater detail. 

Environment, Heredity and Training 

A human being may be thought of, first of all, as being pro- 
duced by the two factors — heredity and environment. He is a 
living organism that reacts to the stimuli that confront him in 
life. The stimuli (environment) are the immediate cause of 
his reactions — they initiate the reaction hut they do not condition 
that reaction. In other words, the environment brings about 
reactions but what those reactions are are determined by the 
laws of the organism itself. What a person does during any 
day of his life is determined by his environment, then, and by his 
innate life. If it is summer time and there is a swimming hole 
in the vicinity, he may or may not go swimming. If there is no 
other factor in his environment, such as a dance, to lead him to do 
otherwise, he quite likely will go swimming. Yet he may not. 
Some individuals do not respond to a swimming stimulus by 
going in swimming. Their natures are so constituted that they 
do not receive pleasure from such experience and so do not seek 
it. One of the writer's boyhood friends — ^the best pitcher in 
town — never went swimming. He didn't enjoy it. In the 
Holmgren test for color bhndness one is given a hundred or more 
different colored skeins of yarn. He is then given a large skein 

157 



158 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

of red yarn and told to pick out all the little skeins of similar 
color. The ordinary individual picks out only red skeins. But 
a color-blind person picks out not only red but also brown and 
gray skeins. And if there happens to be a green skein of the 
same brightness as his red standard he will pick this out also. 
The same stimulus leads to two quite different reactions here. 
The reactions are different because of the difference in the 
development of the eyes of the two individuals. The eyes of 
one individual are so constituted that red and green are dis- 
tinguished apart; the eyes of the other individual are so con- 
stituted that red, gray, and brown, and even a green, with the 
correct brightness, appear alike. We may say then again, that 
the stimulus (environment) is the immediate cause of a reaction, 
but the innate make-up of the individual (heredity) determines 
what the reaction shall be. 

In the case of our mirror-drawing experiment, the stimulus 
was the same for all ten individuals, but their reactions differed 
very materially. Some were very accurate and quick in reacting, 
some were accurate and slow, some were inaccurate but quick, 
and some were inaccurate and slow. At first thought we might 
imagine that the individual differences in this experiment were 
all due to heredity, since the stimulus was alike for the ten 
individuals. But such a statement is not so exact as we shall 
desire here. Suppose one of the ten individuals had practiced 
with the apparatus at some previous time. Would it then be 
fair to say that he did better than the others simply because of 
heredity? Certainly not. We must then introduce a third 
factor into the discussion — the factor of training. Training 
may be thought of in this connection as the habits the individual 
has accumulated from previous experiences in life. Every time 
we react to a stimulus we add a new element to our mental 
make-up. And so we may think of ourselves as being made up of 
pure hereditary influences plus habitual influences. How we 
react, then, toward the swimming hole stimulus is dependent 
(1) upon the entire stimulus comprising swimming hole, dancing 
possibilities, etc.; (2) upon our original nature given us by 
heredity, and (3) upon the sum total of our experiences in life, 
our training. This factor of training is, of course, a mixture of 
heredity and previous environment which now affects the organ- 
ism's reaction to his immediate environment. 



23 THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 159 

Consider the case of a baby who has commenced to talk and 
already knows a ''goose" but no other bbd, and the word ''dress" 
but none other to designate clothing. Standing on the porch 
one day, she observes a pigeon up above her preening its feathers. 
Finally a feather drops out and flutters to her feet. She picks it 
up and holding it out to her mother to admire, exclaims, "Goose's 
dress." The reaction, "Goose's dress," is then initiated by the 
feather falling at her feet. Original nature is responsible for the 
responding to the small object by picking it up, also by desiring 
to talk about it. But previous training determines that the 
particular words that are used are words already learned. All 
three factors contribute then to the reaction. What we do at any 
moment in life is due to the interplay of these three factors: (1) the 
stimulus confronting us; (2) our own original nature inherited 
from our ancestors, and (3) our own acquired habits, the result of 
previous experiences. 

Before considering the individual differences which we have 
discovered in the mirror-drawing experiment, or the simple 
arithmetical work, in the light of these three factors, one point 
needs to be cleared up which may puzzle some. 

Learning Curves Based on "Time" versus Those Based 
ON "Amount Done" 

In the mirror-drawing learning curves, as one progressed, his 
curve came down; in the arithmetic test, as one improved, his 
curve went up. This difference is due to the fact that in the 
mirror-drawing experiment the results were recorded in terms of 
time (seconds), while in the arithmetic tests the results were 
recorded in terms of amount done. Improvement shows itself 
either by a decrease in time for doing the same task (as in the 
mirror-drawing experiment) or by an increase in what is accom- 
plished in the same work-period (as in the arithmetic tests). 
Now either of these curves can be transmuted so as to appear in 
the other form. Take, for example, the curve of learning of the 
4th Grade children in multiplication (shown in the left-hand 
curve of Plate XIII), Here we see that the children performed 
11 problems correctly on the first occasion, 15.5 problems on the 
second, etc. They accomplished that much in 60 seconds. At 
that rate it required 5.5 seconds to do one problem on the first 



160 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



occasion (i. e., 60 -^ 11 = 5.5); 3.9 seconds to do one problem 
on the second occasion (i. e., 60 -^ 15.5 = 3.9); etc. When 
these quotients are plotted for the trials we obtain the right-hand 
curve in Plate XIII. The two curves, then, both record the 
same facts, although one goes up and the other comes down. 
With a little practice in thinking in terms of curves this seeming 
paradox will no longer bother one. 







_ 

I 



16 



IS 



Trials 



Plate XIII. — Learning curves of 4th Grade children in multiplication. The 
left hand curve shows the number of problems solved in two minutes on 15 differ- 
ent days. The right hand curve shows the average time required to do a single 
problem on the 15 different days. The former records progress in amount done, 
the latter in time consumed. 



Explanation of Individual Differences in Terms of 
"Heredity" and "Training" 

In the case of the mirror-drawing experiment, or the simple 
arithmetical work, the stimuli are the same for all the individuals. 
All the individuals are confronted with the same apparatus or 
the same blank of 80 problems. In one sense this is not strictly 
true, as we have already seen, since different individuals respo;id 



23 THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 161 

to different details in a complex situation. But these differences 
are not due to actual physical differences in the stimulus, but 
rather to differences in the individuals themselves. We may 
then properly speak of the stimuli confronting the individuals 
as being exactly the same in all ten cases. It then remains to 
explain the differences in the responses made by ten individuals 
in terms of ''original nature" or ''training." 

The Effect of Previous Training. — We have learned that all 
individuals show greater improvement at the commencement 
of practice than at the end. This being the case the learning 
curves of those who have had no previous practice will rise more 
rapidly and slow up more gradually than in the case of those who 
have had previous practice. 

This fact may be illustrated in Plate XIV by saying that the 
person who has had no previous practice (training) would have 
the learning curve marked B. The person with previous training 
might have instead a curve similar to A. The former's curve 
would show very marked gains at the start and would show a 
large improvement altogether. The latter's curve would not 
show such a marked gain at the start and would not show such 
a large total improvement. We may think of A's curve as not 
being complete — that the first 15 trials are not shown here (have 
ing been performed before) and that what is represented is 
trials 16 to 41. This is on the assumption that A and B are 
exactly identical in every respect. This is further shown in the 
two curves by representing B's progress in trials 16 to 26 as 
exactly equal to A's progress in trials 1 to 11. And if the curves 
were continued, B's progress in trials 26 to 41 would be identical 
to A's records in trials 11 to 26. Previous training, then, affects 
an individual's learning curve by raising its starting-point and by 
eliminating to some extent at least the ordinary big rise at the start. 

It was stated above that B would show apparently greater 
improvement than A. The word "apparently" should be 
emphasized. Plate XIV is so drawn as to indicate that although 
B's curve shows a greater gain than A's curve when measured 
in terms of improvement in problems performed correctly (i. e., 
5 problems to 33.0 problems as against 29.2 problems to 35.9 
problems), yet in terms of number of trials B has not gained over 
A. B started out 15 trials behind and remained 15 trials behind 
to the end. If B's curve were extended for 15 trials more it 
11 



102 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

would then reach the point reached by A at his 41st trial — the 
end of his practice period. It is an extremely difficult matter 
to measure relative improvement in terms of time or amount of 
work done, because as one approaches his limit each unit of effort 
will produce a smaller and smaller gain in time saved or work 
accomplished. 



Uum^rc* 9f»>l*a* 




T^(*l-i 



Plate XIV. — Showing learning curves of two individuals who are identical 
in all respects save in the amount of training in the arithmetical combinations. 



The Effect of Differences in Hereditary Endowment. — How do 

differences in sheer hereditary endowment affect learning curves? 
Plate XV illustrates this point. The individual with the best 
endowment will show' the greatest improvement, the person with 
the least endowment will show the least improvement. Curves 
B, C, and D represent the learning curves of three persons; curve 



23 THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 163 

B being the curve of the best endowed, curve C being of a poorer 
endowed person, and curve D being of the poorest endowed 
person of the three. The better the original nature of the individual 
the greater will he the improvement resulting from practice. These 
three individuals with equal training and varying degrees of 
hereditary endowment would not even do equally well, of course, 
on the first trial, because the better endowed person would do 
better than the others right from the start. 

One warning should be given here. The degree of efficiency of 
the original nature of the individual must be considered as it 
applies to the particular task being tested. For example, a 
great musician (having superior original nature along musical 
lines) may not necessarily have superior endowment in mirror- 
drawing. The musician's curve in mirror-drawing will show 
great improvement or not; depending not upon endowment in 
general, but upon the endowment which he has that pertains 
to mirror-drawing. 

The Effect of Differences in Training and Heredity Com- 
bined. — Now let us consider, third, some combinations of these 
two factors. We may have four individuals: (1) A having good 
heredity and previous training, (2) B having good heredity but no 
•previous training, (3) E having poor heredity and previous train- 
ing, and (4) D having poor heredity and no previous training. 
(Poor heredity is to be understood as endowment having to do 
with the trait under discussion; training to be considered in 
terms of so many units of time devoted to learning specific 
material.) Then their learning curves would take more or less 
the forms illustrated in Plate XVI. A and E can be thought 
of as having had 15 units of instruction, and B and D as having 
had none. As B is superior to D by hereditary endowment he 
will do better than the latter at the start and will rapidly leave 
him behind. (See Plate XV, where this point is alone con- 
sidered.) The more training they receive the more different 
will they become as far as this trait is considered, because of the 
difference in their ability. In the same way A and E, who have 
had some previous training, become more and more unlike as 
they continue their training. These curves illustrate, then, the 
principle that continued tra'ning makes individuals of different 
hereditary endowment more and more unlike. We shall return 
to this point a little later. 



164 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



The curves of A and B are symmetrical, A's curve actually 
being the same as B's from the latter's 16th trial on to what would 
be his 41st trial. The curves of E and D are also symmetrical 
in the same way. Because of their previous training A and E 
will maintain their superiority over B and D, respectively. 
This superiority seemingly grows smaller and smaller with 
practice. It actually does if measured in terms of problems 




PLATE XV. — Showing learning curves of three individuals with different heredi- 
tary endowments. 

performed, but it does not if measured in terms of effort, for A 
always remains ahead of B to the extent of what 15 units of time 
will produce, and likewise E remains ahead of D to that extent. 

The difference between the good heredity of A and B and the 
poor heredity of E and D is meant to be a considerable difference. 
Yet it is not exaggerated at all in comparison with the differences 



23 



THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



165 



found in almost any class room. The differences between the 
average of the 4th Grade and the group of retarded children is 
about equal to that shown here between A and E. In Plate 
XVII are shown the curves of a child from the 4th Grade and 
another from the retarded group. The former is not the brightest 
in that grade (actually rated 11th in a class of 28) and the latter 




Plate XVI. — Showing learning curves of four individuals: A with good 
heredity and previous training; B with good heredity but no training; E with 
poor heredity and previous training; and D with poor heredity and no training. 

is not the dullest among these unfortunate children. In fairness 
to the records it should be stated that undoubtedly the 4th 
Grade child practiced on these combinations outside of school. 
But the dull child had also this opportunity. The curves do 
epresent cons equently the learning that followed equul stimula- 



166 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

tions in the school. One child could respond in an adequate 
manner and did so and the other child could not and so did not. 
Some students can learn mathematics so that they eventually 
master calculus and its applications to engineering, while others 
never get beyond the fundamentals. Some students master the 



NutLbtf «1 Pr»bhrni 

40 



iS 



30 



IS 



20 



IS 



■10 






S 10 IS 



20 



Plate XVII. — Showing learning curves in solving addition combinations 
(B-Test) for a bright 4th Grade child and a mentally defective child of the same 
age. (In the case of the latter between trials 10 and 11 there intervened 170 
minutes of drill extending over 25 days on addition combinations.) 



principles of art and design and become skilled in dressmaking, 
millinery, architecture, painting, etc., while others are oblivious 
to the most atrocious combinations of color or form in their 
clothes, their home surroundings, etc. The gifted child learns 



23 THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 167 

rapidly and improves tremendously; the child who is lacking 
learns slowly and learns very little. 

Individual Differences in Solving Simple Arithmetical 

Combinations 

Let us now more or less review what has been discussed in this 
lesson but consider the matter in terms of the data studied in 
Lesson 22. 

These data are plotted in Plate XVIII. The curves do not 
bring out the points so clearly as do the theoretically constructed 
curves of Plates XIV, XV, and XVI. Nevertheless they bear 
witness to all of those points. 

1. The greater the amount of practice the higher the curves start. 
This point needs no further discussion. 

2. The greater the amount of practice the less rapid the gain. 
This point is true but it does not always appear, due to the pres- 
ence of conflicting factors. Although none of these groups had 
had any previous training with the particular tests under discus- 
sion, yet we naturally would expect the adults to have had more 
practice and so to show less improvement than the 4th Grade 
children. The real cause, how^ever, as to why the curves do not 
clearly illustrate the point made at the commencement of this 
paragraph is due to the differences' in the groups in terms of 
heredity. Not only are the adults superior to the 4th Grade 
children because they have a mature development of their 
hereditary nature, but also without question a class of college 
men and women are superior to a class of 4th Grade children. 
That is, the 4th Grade class will not average as high an 
endowment when they become adults as do the college students. 
This class of forty-three college students is probably made up of 
the superior students from forty-three 4th Grade classes. The 
great differences in heredity cover up then the effect of much 
practice versus little practice. 

3. The greater the hereditary endowment the greater the improve- 
ment from training. This point is clear from the curves and 
from what has just been stated. 

4s The greater the training the more a group of individuals 
become unlike. At the commencement of the training recorded 
here the three groups could perform as follows : 



168 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Number of problems solved per minute by college students 59 

Number of problems solved per minute by 4th Grade children 19 

Number of problems solved per minute by defective children 4 



Average 27.3 

A. D. 21.1 



and at the end of ten practice periods they performed as follows : 

Number of problems solved per minute by college students 76 

Number of problems solved per minute by 4th Grade children 30 

Number of problems solved per minute by defective children 7 

Average 37.7 

A. D. 25.6 



As the A. D. has increased we know the groups are less alike than 
before. This fact is shown also in this way. 

College students are superior to 4th Grade Children at start 
by 40 problems. 

College students are superior to 4th Grade Children at end by 
46 problems. 
Also — 

College students are superior to Defective Children at start by 
55 problems. 

College students are superior to Defective Children at end by 
69 problems. 
And— 

4th Grade Children are superior to Defective Children at 
start by 15 problems. 

4th Grade Children are superior to Defective children at end 
by 23 problems. 

This fourth fact, that training causes a group to *'fly apart," 
to become more and more unlike, due to the inherent differences 
in the hereditary equipment of the members of the group, affects 
our school work most profoundly. It makes clear that no grade 
can be taught as a class without some members very shortly 
doing such good work as to tempt the authorities to promote them 
into the next grade and some other children doing such poor work 
as to lead to their being put back into the grade below or to force 
the teacher to give them individual instruction. No mechanical 
administrative scheme for holding a class together will ever work 
satisfactorily because the members of that class cannot advance 



23 



THE CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



169 



at the same rate. The solution to this difficulty has not been 
evolved, but if it ever is, in the writer's opinion, it will include a 
very flexible scheme of promotion by subject-matter, coupled 
with extensive provision for individual coaching of children that 



f^umber ot frobltms 
60 



70 



(.0 



SO 



40 



50 



20 



10 





s ,10 

Tri*li oi Cite nti^mU Each 



IS 



Plate XVIII. — Showing learning curves in solving simple arithmetical 
combinations: from adults, Curve A (B-Test) and Curve B (BX-Test) from 
4th Grade children, Curve C (B-Test) and Curve D (BX-Test); and from 
defective children. Curves E and F (B-Test)— Curve F prior to and Curve E 
after 170 minutes of special drill on addition combinations.) 

are markedly behind and markedly ahead of their class. This 
point will be taken up again later. But right now it should be 
reahzed that the main point of the whole problem is that children 
cannot progress in their learning at the same rate— that some 
go fast, some go slow, and some advance at average speed. 



LESSON 24 

THE GENERAL LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS 

DIFFER 

We know that people are different almost before we realize 
that there are people. We distinguish between tall people and 
short people, fat people and thin people, clever people and silly 
people, and most of us would agree fairly well in our classifications. 
But how do we draw these distinctions? Do we have hard and 
fast lines, enclosed between which one class is set off from 
another? Should we say that all men between inches and 62 
inches in height, for instance, are short, and those between 62 
inches and 84 inches are tall? That any one weighing under 
125 pounds is thin or more than 125 pounds is fat? And even if 
we decide to be so definite in these cases (though certainly our 
standard is artificial) where shall we draw the line in the case of 
mental attainments? Are we all talented or stupid, for example? 
Or are most of us merely average people without special qualify- 
ing adjectives, and the rest of us simply either better or worse 
than the average? That is, instead of having separate little 
groups of idiots, normal folks, and geniuses, the members of 
each class keeping carefully to themselves, do we perhaps have 
but one class of individuals, all typified by the average, yet all 
varying from the average in greater or less degree? 

We are about to perform an experiment in throwing dice. This 
is as purely a chance performance as we can get. Let us see 
if the throws are distinctly different or whether they follow one 
general law. For example, can we divide the throws into two 
groups — high and low, or must we think in terms of one group 
with variations from its average? In any case the results may 
apply to our biological problem as given above. 

The Experiment 

Problem. — In throwing dice are the totals distinctly different 
or do they approach a general type? 
Apparatus. — Coordinate paper; 3 dice. 

170 



24 



LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 



171 



Procedure. — Part 1. Lay off on your coordinate paper a 
base line, and number the squares from to 18, as is done in 
Plate XIX. Lay off a vertical axis and number the squares from 
to 35 (Plate XIX only shows to 8). Now commence and throw 
your three dice. Count up the total of the three dice and record 
that total on your coordinate paper in its proper place. (The 
writer threw first a 4, 3, and 1, making a total of 8.) A *' 1 " (first 
throw) is placed in the square on the coordinate paper immedi- 
ately above the 8 on the scale. A total of 1 1 was next thrown by 
the writer and it is indicated by the ''2" in the plate. A total of 
14 was thrown third, etc. Twenty-five throws are indicated in 
this Plate, the twenty-fifth throw being a total of 7. Plate XIX 
shows then that the writer* threw 



one 6 
one 7 
three 8's 
three 9's 
six lO's 
three 11 's 



two 12's 
one 13 
two 14's 
one 15 
one 16, and 
one 17 



Thus 25 throws are distributed or indicated in the plate. 

Record in this way 100 throws. Show your completed diagram 
to the instructor before proceeding further. 

Such a diagram is called a surface of distributw7i as it shows just 
how all the throws were distributed among the possible totals. 

Part 2. Now determine how many different totals can be 









8 
























■ ■ 
















(6 






































h 




















24 






































19 


















!4 




















14 


















^ 
















18 


22 


8 


17 
















^2 
















15 


11 


5 


13 


16 




12 






















21 


25 


1 


6 


4 


2 


10 


7 


3 


20 


9 


23 






2 4 6 8 10 12 14. 16 18 

Total Arnoun+ of Throws. 





Plate XIX. — Illustrating by means of a "surface of distribution" twenty-five 

throws of three dice. 



172 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

obtained by throwing three dice. (In Plate XIX are indicated 
12 different totals, i. e., from a total of 6 to a total of 17, inclusive.) 
Present your answer to your instructor before proceeding further. 

Part 3. Now figure out (a) all the possible different combina- 
tions^ it is possible to obtain by throwing three dice. (Assume 
one of the three dice is red, another is blue, and the third is white. 
Then one on the red die, two on the blue, and three on the 
white is a different combination from one on the red, two on 
the white, and three on the blue, or from two on the red, one 
on the blue, and three on the white. The question is, how 
many different combinations are there?) 

Also figure out (b) how many of each total you will obtain when 
every possible combination is considered. 

Part 4. Suppose instead of getting the 100 throws you did get, 
you had thrown the dice as many times as there are different 
combinations and in throwing the dice that number of times had 
got each and all of these different combinations. Plot a surface 
of distribution to illustrate just this. 

Part 5. What relation exists between the surface of distribution 
you actually obtained by throwing the dice 100 times and the 
surface of distribution obtained in the preceding paragraph? 

What relation do you think there exists between the findings 
in this experiment of throwing dice and the general problem of 
how individuals differ? Can throws be divided into two or 
more groups; can individuals? 

Hand in your report at the next class-hour. 

1 Mathematically speaking what is wanted here is permutations, not 
combinations. That is, in forming combinations we are only concerned with 
the number of things each selection contains, whereas in forming permuta- 
tions, we have also to consider the order of the things which make up each 
arrangement; for instance, if from six numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, we make a 
selection of three, such as 123, this single combination admits of being 
arranged in the following ways:~123, 132, 213, 231, 312, and 321, and so 
gives rise to six different permutations. 



LESSON 25 

THE GENERAL LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS 
DIFFER (continued) 

The Normal Surface of Distribution 

If one should take three dice and throw them 216 times, each 
time counting up the total score and plotting this score, one 
might obtain a surface of distribution somewhat like the three 
surfaces shown in Plate XX. The first and third were actually 
so obtained, the middle one is the perfect surface which theoretic- 
ally chance should give. 

One may figure out this theoretically perfect surface in this 
way. Count up all the throws that are possible and record how 
many times each total appears. You may have 

1 and 1 and 1, a total of 3 
1 and 1 and 2, a total of 4 
1 and 1 and 3, a total of 5 
1 and 1 and 4, a total of 6 
1 and 1 and 5, a total of 7 
1 and 1 and 6, a total of 8 
1 and 2 and 1, a total of 4 
1 and 2 and 2, a total of 5 
etc. 

When you have so obtained all the 216 totals you will find that 
you have 

1 total of 3 27 total of 11 

3 totals of 4 25 total of 12 

6 totals of 5 21 total of 13 

10 totals of 6 15 total of 14 

15 totals of 7 10 total of 15 

21 totals of 8 6 total of 16 

25 totals of 9 3 total of 17 

27 totals of 10 1 total of 18 

When these data are plotted you have the ideal surface of 
distribution in Plate XX. All this means that when you throw 
three dice you are just as likely to get any one combination as 

173 



174 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



any other. But you are more likely to get a total of 10 or 11 
than 3 or 18. You can express this likelihood by the expression 
27 to 1, for there are 27 combinations that will give a total of 
10 or 11, whereas there is only one combination that will give 
3 or 18. Our normal curve of distribution represents then that 
surface most likely to be obtained by 216 throws. Actually we 
seldom get exactly that ideal surface, but we do get surfaces that 
approximate it in general appearance. 




25 LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 175 

One may think of this matter of throwing three dice as being 
conditioned on three independent factors, each one of which may 
vary independently in six different ways. When the three 
independent factors with their six possible variations are con- 
sidered as a whole, we realize that there are 216 independent 
combinations possible. But the 216 independent combinations 
do not give 216 different final scores. They give but 16 different 
scores (from 3 to 18). Nor do the 216 combinations give an 
equal number of each of the 16 different scores. They give 
varying numbers of the 16 different scores — only one 3, three 4's, 
six 5's, etc., as in the table above. 





Plate XXI. — The normal curve or surface of distribution. The two curves 
f\ differ only in that a coarse unit of measurement was employed in the second case 
whereas a fine unit was employed in the first case; — i. e., inches vs. eighths of an 
inch. (From E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, Vol. Ill, p. 334.) 

Now in a similar way we may think of the characters of differ- 
ent individuals as the final totals resulting from the interaction 
of many independent factors, each of which may vary independ- 
ently in many ways. Instead of there being but three factors 
with six variations each, which combined give us our human 
individuahties, there are undoubtedly many more than three 
factors and these factors have many more than six variations. 
Nevertheless the final outcome is very similar to what we obtain 
by throwing dice. We find that most of the individuals, just 
like most of the throws, give us individualities that resemble 
each other very much, just as the throws of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 



176 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

13 are very much alike. We find also that occasionally we get 
very striking personalities, just as very occasionally we get 
throws of 3 or 4 or 17 or 18. They are striking because they 
differ so from what we ordinarily have. 

In Plate XXI are given two different methods of drawing the 
typical surface of distribution. In the lower of these two sur- 
faces there was used a very coarse unit of measurement, e. g., 
inches in measuring height, and in the upper surface there was 
used a very much finer unit of measurement, e. g., eighths of an 
inch. We can imagine a surface drawn on the basis of a still 
finer unit of measurement. In this case the jogs in the line would 
be very, very small, so that for all practical purposes the line 
would be a smooth curve and not a jagged line. .Such a curve is 
called the nor7nal curve of distribution. In terms of geometry the 
normal curve of distribution is the limit approached by most 
surfaces of distribution which are obtained in biological studies. 

The Distribution of Individual Differences 

An Ideal Distribution. — When we come to study human beings 
we find that they fit into our normal surface wonderfully well. 
In fact, the conception has been derived from our study of 
individual differences. In Plate XXII is shown a normal curve 
of distribution picturing the different types of individuals accord- 
ing to general intelligence. In the middle are the great bulk 
(50%) of human beings — average human beings. As we proceed 
to the left, we have individuals slightly below the average; 
''dull" persons; morons with intelligence approximately equal 
to children from 8.0 to 10.0 years;^ and then imbeciles with intelli- 
gence of from 2.0 to 8.0 years; and idiots with intelligence of 
from 0.0 to 2.0 years. The remaining 0.001% of the inferior 
population can possibly be thought of as being too inferior to 
live and so constitute a fraction of those who are born dead. In 
the same way we may divide up our superior individuals pro- 
ceeding from the middle group out toward the right. Apparently 
we have no terms to cover these superior individuals so that the 

1 There is a great deal of controversy today as to what should be the proper 
mental age limit of morons. Some writers place it as high as 12 years. 
Experienced based upon testing men in the army makes 10 years a satis- 
factory figure. 



26 



LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 



177 



expressions used here have no standard meaning. To the right 
of the group entitled ''National Leaders," comprising 29,000 in a 
population of 100,000,000, are still 1,000 individuals not to be 
overlooked. They comprise our most valuable men, our geniuses, 
etc. 

Cattell,^ in his study of the thousand most eminent men 
of history, studied a group even more eminent than these since 
his thousand was not taken from a population of 100,000,000 

» J. McK. Cattell, A Statistical Study of Eminent Men, Popular Science 
Monthly, Feb., 1903. 



I 




12 



178 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

but from the population of the known civihzed world. They 
would be located on this diagram several groups to the "ghtof the 
group here entitled - National Leaders." Accordmg to Catteil 
the ten most eminent men of all history are the followmg m the 
order of their prominence:— Napoleon, Shakespeare, Moham- 
med, Voltaire, Bacon, Aristotle, Goethe, Julius Csesar, Luther, 
and Plato. 





- 


35 000 


— 


30 000 


— 


25 000 


— 


20000 


— 




— 



15000 



10000 



5000 




OH 



«o 



Plate XXIIL-Showing distribution of height of 221 819 ^^n^ (Quoted 
from note of E. G. Boring in Science, Nov. 12, 1920, p. 4651). 

Actual Distributions of Individual Differences 

Plates XXIII and XXIV present distributions of physical 

height and general inteUigence. In both these cases the actua 

distribution very closely approximates to the smooth, norma 



26 



LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 



179 



curve. They emphasize again that men vary; also that they 
cluster around one central tendency or type. 

In Lesson 21 our attention was called to the fact that the aver- 
ages of the eight grades of a school may be equal or superior to 
the norms for those grades, and yet many children in each grade 
may be in a very bad way educationally. The specific case was 
mentioned of testing a school with the Kansas Silent Reading 
Test and the individual scores for all the children were presented 
in Table V. These scores are again given in Plate XXV, where 
they are displayed as surfaces of distribution. Because of the 




Plate XXIV. — Showing distribution of 93,965 white men in the army- 
draft in terms of intelligence test scores. (From Memoirs, National Academy 
of Science, Vol. XV, 1921, p. 653.) 

small number of children in any class these surfaces only remotely 
approximate the form of the surface of distribution which would 
be obtained if there had been 100 or 200 children in each grade. 
When the scores from all the children in Grades IV to VIII are 
combined, as they are in the lower part of Plate XXV, a surface 
of distribution much more similar to the typrcal form is obtained. 
If the scores from the children in Grades I to III had been in- 
cluded the surface of distribution would be still more similar to 
the usually obtained form. The form obtained here is typical 
of the form which results from a study of individual differences 
in nearly all traits, both mental and physical. 

During the war a psychological ''general intelligence" test was 
given to hundreds of thousands of the enlisted men and to many 



180 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

of the officers. Distribution of the scores obtained from enlisted 
men is shown in Plate XXIV; also again in Plate XXVI, together 
with the distribution of officers' scores. The two distributions 



10 

o 

IDA 



4 

4 4 4 

4 4 444444 4 

44 444444444 4444 



Grade ET 



5 ♦ GradeY 

7 7 

5 5 

5 5 55 55 5 55 55 

5 5555 55555 5-5 5 5 5 



6 ^ GradeH 

66 

6 6 6 

6 6 6 6 6 6 

6666666 666666666 6 6 6 



*7 GradeM 

7 7 

7 7 7 
7 77 7 7 7 

7 77 7777777777 7 7 7 



GradeW 



8 8 Q 8 

8 8 8 88888 888 88 6 



Grades E7-¥nr 



5 4 
5 44 



5 4 5 4 

5 4544 54 

6 4 5 644 5 54 

6 5456 6546 54 45 
4 6 5456654765455 
4 7 6556675765656 

4 74 6657675776766 4 5 6 

4 74776867678777756 67 868 

4 45 76 7 7 88767788668675868 88 7 8 



"Ti5~f~~~ 20 25 30 35 

ocorg in Readir?q 



Plate XXV.— Showing the Distribution of Children in Grades IV toVIII, based 
on the Kansas Silent Reading Test. (See Table V for individual scores.) (Aver- 
ages of each grade indicated by the arrows.) 

are based on data which are not quite comparable and so can 
not be directly contrasted. Plate XXVI shows that the officers 



26 



LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 



181 



as a class were superior to the enlisted men in intelligence, 
fact may be expressed also as follows: 



This 



2.4% of the enlisted men were superior to 75% of the officers 

6.4% of the enlisted men were superior to 50% of the officers 

12.2% of the enlisted men were superior to 25% of the officers 

Intelligence is not the only qualification needed by officers. 
Some of those with low intelligence scores were superior in lead- 
ership and experience. In the same way some of the enlisted 
men who were very superior in intelligence had very poor phy- 



Ptregnt 



15 



10 



p-^"K. 


-1 


• 
1 


SiiliifttI nitn 


1 

r- — 
1 


r " 

1 Officers 



k «^ 



9 ^ ^ « ^ 



S 5 2 



Arnin Itttlh'itiiec Tai ^' Scores 



»« ^^ «^ »-. »• 

o o o « o 

«b ^ *^ ^ ^ 

tst V% tfi Wk T% 



I 

I 



2 



Plate XXVI. — Showing the distribution of scores obtained by enlisted men 
and officers in psychological intelligence test (Test A). Based on scores of 128,- 
747 "literate" men and 8,096 white officers. Undoubtedly many enlisted men 
too illiterate to take the test were included here. 



sique and appearance or were lacking in education or leadership, 
etc. From the standpoint of the psychologists and personnel 
officers the problem of selection of men for officers' training camps 
was to find the superior enlisted men — superior both in intelli- 
gence and other necessary qualifications. 

The sharp drop at the extreme left of the enlisted men's dis- 
tribution curve proves conclusively that many enlisted men were 
not measured here who belonged to the group of enlisted men. 
This was true. Twenty-five per cent, of men were eliminated 
by the draft boards as below standard physically, mentally or 
morally. And the worst illiterates were not given the test. 



182 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Illiterates and those making a poor score in this test were given 
a test not involving reading. 

Fundamental Causes of iNDnaouAL Differences 

Individual differences are to be thought of as the resultant of 
many more or less independent factors, each of which vary 
considerably. These factors may be grouped under the three 
headings — environment, heredity and training. In the case of 
heredity, we may look upon a human being as made up of many 
factors handed down to him from his parents through the two 
germ cells. These factors are more or less independent. Accord- 
ing to the combination which results from all these factors we 
have any particular human being. As illustrated by the 
experiment in throwing dice, although there may be many 
combinations of factors with their individual variations there 
results (1) a much smaller number of distinct individualities 
and (2) the great majority of such individualities are much 
alike with only relatively few cases of marked variation from the 
average. 

At the present time science has ascertained in only a few cases 
what the factors are which affect human beings so as to make 
them different. And even there this has been done only to a 
limited degree. One example may be mentioned simply to make 
this matter clearer. In the throat or neck are some small 
glands known as .the thyroid glands. They secrete into the blood 
a substance which is ''characterized by containing a large amount 
of iodin (9.3% of the dry weight)." This chemical, apparently, 
exercises in the tissues ''a regulating action of an important or 
indeed essential character." Removal or atrophy of the thyroids 
results in a condition of chronic malnutrition; ''in the young it is 
responsible for arrested growth and deficient development 
designated as cretinism, and in the adult the same cause gives 
rise to the peculiar disease of myxedema, characterized bj' dis- 
tressing mental deterioration, an edematous (dropsy of the 
subcutaneous cellular tissue) condition of the skin, loss of hair, 
etc." On the other hand, enlargement of the thyroid glands 
"forms an essential factor of the disease exophthalmic goitre." 
"The salient feature of exophthalmic goitre is a lowered threshold 
to all stimuli." "The organism responds at such times to the 



26 



LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 



183 



prick of a pin, a hint of danger, or the sHghtest infection, by a 
transformation of energy many times greater than would follow 
the same stimulation in the normal organism." Patients suffer- 
ing from cretinism are now fed this iodin chemical, whereas 
patients suffering from exophthalmic goitre are operated on so as 



Table VIL — Showing the Percentage of 4th and 8th Grade 
Children Who (a) Attempted and (6) Solved from to 20 Problems 



Per cent, of pupils who attempted to 


Per cent, of pupils who solved cor- 


do a given number of problems 


rectly a given number of problems 


4th Grade 


8th Grade 


4th Grade 


8th Grade 


20 Probs.— 0% 


20 Probs.— 5% 


20 Probs.— 0% 


20 Probs.— 2% 


19 Probs.— 


19 Probs.— 2 


19 Probs.— 


19 Probs.— 1 


18 Probs.— 


18 Probs.— 2 


18 Probs.— 


18 Probs.— 1 


17 Probs.— 


17 Probs.— 3 


17 Probs.— 


17 Probs.— 1 


16 Probs.— 1 


16 Probs.— 4 


16 Probs.— 


16 Probs.— 2 


15 Probs.- 1 


15 Probs.— 6 


15 Probs.— 


15 Probs.— 2 


14 Probs.— 1 


14 Probs.— 7 


14 Probs.— 


14 Probs.— 3 


13 Probs.— 1 


13 Probs.— 8 


13 Probs.— 1 


13 Probs.— 4 


12 Probs.— 1 


12 Probs.— 9 


12 Probs.— 1 


12 Probs.— 5 


11 Probs.— 2 


11 Probs.— 11 


11 Probs.— 1 


11 Probs.— 7 


10 Probs.— 4 


10 Probs.— 11 


10 Probs.— 1 


10 Probs.— 8 


9 Probs.— 5 


9 Probs.— 10 


9 Probs.— 2 


9 Probs.— 8 


8 Probs.— 12 


8 Probs.— 10 


8 Probs.— 3 


8 Probs.— 10 


7 Probs.— 14 


7 Probs.— 6 


7 Probs.— 6 


7 Probs.— 10 


6 Probs.— 21 


6 Probs.— 4 


6 Probs.— 9 


6 Probs.— 


5 Probs.— 14 


5 Probs.— 1 


5 Probs.— 12 


5 Probs.— 9 


4 Probs.— 13 


4 Probs.— 1 


4 Probs.— 14 


4 Probs.— 7 


3 Probs.— 6 


3 Probs.— 


3 Probs.— 14 


3 Probs.— 6 


2 Probs.— 3 


2 Probs.— 


2 Probs.— 13 


2 Probs.— 3 


1 Probs.— 1 


1 Probs.— 


1 Probs.— 13 


1 Probs.— 1 


Probs.— 


Probs.— 


Probs.— 10 


Probs.— 1 


Aver. 6 . 44 


11.65 


3.81 


8.41 



to reduce the amount of this chemical given off by the thyroid 
glands. We see here a single factor in the entire organism — the 
production of an iodine chemical — which when only slightly 
produced results in cretinism (deficient physical and mental 



184 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

development), when normally produced results in normal 
behavior, and when excessively produced results in goitre accom- 
panied by a chronic state of great excitability.^ 

The Overlapping of Distributions of Ability in Different 

School Grades 

The scores of children in the Kansas Silent Reading Test for 
the various school grades overlap very greatly (see Plate XXV). 
Because such overlapping is one of the most important concep- 
tions in educational theory today, it will repay us to consider 

1 Quotations are from W. H. Howell, Physiology, 1907, pp. 794-797 and 
G. W. Crile, Man — An Adaptive Mechanism, 1916, pp. 140-143 and 192-197. 



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25 LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 185 

two other examples of it here. The Courtis Arithmetic Tests are 
employed to find out how rapidly and accurately pupils can do 
certain of the fundamental processes. For example, one of the 
problems in the column addition test is made up of the following 
numbers:— 837, 882, 959, 603, 118, 781, 756, 222, 525. 

Courtis^ measures the speed of work by recording the number 
of problems '^attempted'' and the accuracy of the work by 
recording the number of problems which were ''right" or correct. 
The four columns in Table VII show what per cent, of the two 
grades "attempted," or got ''right," any specific number of 
problems ranging from 20 to 0. For example, the table shows 
that 0% of the 4th Grade attempted 20 problems while 5% of 
the 8th Grade attempted that number, and it shows that natur- 
ally 0% of the 4th Grade got 20 problems right, while 2% of the 
8th Grade did solve that number correctly. It shows further 
that 1 % of the 4th Grade attempted 12 problems as against 9 % of 
the 8th Grade, and that 1% of the 4th Grade got 12 problems 
right, as against 5% in the 8th Grade. If we want to know just 
how many children attempted or solved correctly 12 or more 
problems in the two grades we must add up all the percentages in 
the table for 12 problems and better. This gives us the follow- 
ing: 5% of the 4th Grade attempted 12 or more problems as 
against 46 % of the 8th Grade and 2 % of the 4th Grade got right 
12 or more problems as against 21% of the 8th Grade. All of 
this is shown diagrammatically in Plate XXVII. 

The averages of the 4th and 8th Grades are given at the bottom 
of the table. The 8th Grade has done just about twice as well 
as the 4th Grade on the basis of these figures. In terms of such 
figures one would expect that all 8th Grade children would be 
superior to all 4th Grade children for the former averages 8.4 
problems correct to 3.8 problems for the latter. But a study of 
the table and particularly the plate shows that this is false. 
Fifty-one of the children from the 8th Grade could be put in the 
4th Grade and a corresponding number from the 4th Grade be 
put in the 8th Grade and the averages of the two grades for 
accuracy would not be affected at all. When we give our 8th 
Grade children a diploma, graduating them into the High School, 
we feel that the diploma means that they are up to 8th Grade 

* S. A. Courtis, Educational Diagnosis, Second Indiana Educational 
Conference, 1915, p. 154. 



A.D. 


1.94 


A.D. 


2.69 


A.D. 


2.19 


A.D. 


3.09 



186 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

standards and far superior to 7th, or 6th, or 5th, or certainly 4th 
Grade standards. But apparently many in the class are not. 
For here in this perfectly typical illustration based on about 
11,000 children, 38 in every hundred 8th Grade children are no 
different from 38 other children in the 4th Grade as regards their 
speed of adding and 51 in every hundred 8th Grade children are 
no different from 51 other 4th Grade children as regards their 
ability to add correct!}^ columns of figures. 

The A. D.'s for the data in Table VII concerning the ability 
of children in the 4th and 8th Grades to add columns of figures 
are : — 

Average number of problems attempted in 4th Grade . 6 . 44 
Average number of problems attempted in 8th Grade. 11 . 65 
Average number of problems correctly solved in 4tli 

Grade 3 . 81 

Average number of problems correctly solved in 8th 

Grade 8.41 

As pointed out in Lesson 21 the size of these A. D.'s immediately 
warns us against supposing that all the children are equal to the 
average for their grade. They also confirm again the point made 
in Lesson 23 that the greater the training the more the individuals 
are different. Inspection of the surfaces of distribution in Plate 
XXVII. as well as the size of these A. D.'s shows that the 
members of the 8th Grade differ more among themselves than 
do the members of the 4th Grade. This fact would be all the 
more clearly shown if the children who have dropped out of 
school between the 4th and 8th Grades, were present in this 8th 
Grade. For most of them would appear at the lower end of the 
surface of distribution. 

A survey was made of English composition at Purdue. Uni- 
versity in September 1919, the freshmen being required to write 
a short composition. Results showed that 10 %, excluding foreign 
students, '^have composition ability on the same level as the sixth 
grade in Detroit, Michigan.'^ Work typical of this poorest 10% 
was as follows: — 

''One night last winter. I got into my mother's cubord, and 
got a whole mince pie and ate it, just before going to bed. And 
of all the bad dreams I had the worst. 

''I drempt I was taken to China and roasted alive. Next the 
India tans tortured me, then I was taken to Africa and left in 



26 LAW AS TO HOW INDIVIDUALS DIFFER 187 

the jungles and again I was in a ward with the small pox and 
when I was about to die I awoke with a sick headache." 

"There were 111 compositions of about this quality . . . 
This may be taken as indicating that 10% of the entering class, 
either on account of innate mental deficiency or inadequate 
training, have not mastered the elementary mechanics, the 
simple conventional technique of expressing their thoughts in 
written form. These students are evidently not prepared to do 
high school work in English, to say nothing of attempting fresh- 
man work in college .... The assumption that all freshmen 
are prepared to do the same type of English work, and the fairly 
common practice of grouping, instructing, and grading on this 
basis, seems to be without any pedagogical justification. "^ 

This matter of how students differ among themselves is a very 
important problem affecting our whole educational system in a 
very profound Way. When we realize that 51% of 8th Grade 
children add columns of figures no more accurately than a cor- 
responding percentage of 4th Grade children and that 10% of 
college freshmen write compositions no better than average 
sixth grade children we must realize that something is wrong with 
our school system. All of our methods of study, all of our 
methods for supervision, and all of our administration schemes 
should be subjected to careful scrutiny in order to see if any of 
them are the cause for such astounding comparisons. Possibly, 
radical changes might produce a more uniform proficiency in the 
grades. Possibly the graded system itself is at fault. Possibly 
the differences discussed here are inherent in children themselves, 
so that very little or nothing can be done to rectify the matter. 
If that is the case, then, changes possibly should be made so that 
all diplomas might have a more definite meaning than they now 
appear to possess. 

^ G. C. Brandenburg, The Quality of Freshman Composition, School and 
Society, Dec. 17, 1921. 



LESSON 26 

HOW SHOULD STUDENTS BE GRADED ? 

One of the most perplexing problems in education today is that 
of grading students. Until very recently the subject was ignored, 
for it was taken for granted that if a person was capable of 
teaching his class he was capable of grading the students in that 
class. Even today, the vast majority of teachers consider it their 
inalienable right to grade as they please and strenuously resent 
any interference with their methods. Recent studies made on 
this subject show, however, that teachers differ very widely in 
the way they grade their students. In fact, the variation is so 
great that it is perfectly apparent that all cannot be grading their 
students fairly. And when ''honors'' are based on the grades 
of different instructors the injustice of the present system is 
clearly apparent. A friend of the writer dehberately restricted 
his work as far as possible to the three departments of Latin, 
German, and History in a great university, because he realized 
that it was easy to make high grades there and he was determined 
to win Phi Beta Kappa. These three departments granted '' A's'' 
to 30 % of their students, while many other departments granted 
''A's" to less than 5% of their students. He made his Phi 
Beta Kappa key but at the expense of a broad, well-rounded 
college training. If he had taken courses from many depart- 
ments he would have stood certainly less than half the chance of 
getting high grades and probably not more than one-third the 
chance. 

Below are given (See Table VIII) the grades which an instruc- 
tor awarded a class in history. They are the grades from three 
examinations, and the final grade for the semester is to be made 
up from them, each of the three to count one-third of the final 
grade. (The grades were obtained by the instructor assigning 
definite values to each question or part of a question, scoring 
the student in terms of each question, and finally adding up all 
these separate scores. The grades given here have been modified 

188 



26 



HOW SHOULD STUDENTS BE GRADED? 



189 



somewhat by the writer but they approximate in a general way 
the grades actually given by this instructor.) 

Plot surfaces of distribution for the three sets of grades listed 
below. 

Table VIII. — The Grades Given by an Instructor in Three Examina- 
tions. What Should be the Final Grade of Each Student? 



Students 


First Exam. 


Sec. Exam. 


Third Exam 


1 


60 


100 


70 


2 


55 


90 


55 


3 


50 


80 


80 


4 


45 


95 


55 


5 


45 


85 


70 


6 


40 


95 


50 


7 


40 


80 


50 


8 


35 


70 


65 


9 


35 


85 


45 


10 


30 


75 


60 


11 


30 


80 


50 


12 


30 


90 


75 


13 


25 


95 


30 


14 


25 


90 


60 


15 


20 


90 


55 


16 


20 


85 


55 


17 


20 


80 


35 


18 


15 


100 


50 


19 


15 


65 


40 


20 


10 


80 


45 


21 


10 


85 


35 


22 


5 


85 


45 


23 


5 


60 


30 


24 





75 


25 



Answer the following questions: — 

1. Who is responsible for the low grades in the first examination 
and the high grades in the second examination? Do the grades 
mean that the students loafed before the first examination and 
studied hard before the second? Or do they mean that the first 
examination was too hard or too long and the second too easy 
or too short? Or do they mean that the course of study was 
poorly organized at the beginning and the teaching was poor at 
the start and after the poor showing in the first examination the 
teacher ''woke up" and "got busy" and did good teaching? 

Who, then, is primarily responsible for the grades in the first 



190 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

examination ranging from 60 to and in the second examination 
from 100 to 60? 

2. Which grade represents the greater abihtj^, 60 given in the 
first examination or 80 given in the second? 60 is 20% inferior 
to 80, of course. But, on the other hand, only one student 
received 60 in the first examination and none received a higher 
rating, whereas in the second examination 5 students received 
80 and 14 more received higher grades than 80. 

3. If we arrange the students in order of merit according to 
their grades in the examinations, we find that 

the best student got 60, 100, and 80, respectively, 
the 12th student got 30, 85 and 50, respectively, and 
the poorest student got 0, 60 and 25, respectively. 

Are 60, 100 and 80 equal then? Or 30, 85 and 50? Or 0, 60 

and 25?, 

4. In grading examination papers should we grade in terms of 
the ''ideal" paper, the best paper, the paper of an average student, 
the poorest paper or ''zero" knowledge? With which one of 
these standards is the teacher most likely to be familiar? Which 
one is most likely to fluctuate from year to year? 

5. What final grades would you give these 24 students on the 
basis of the three examinations? Plot the surface of distribution 
for the grades you assign. 

6. Are your final grades fair to the students? To the instruct- 
or? To students in other sections of this same history course? 
To other instructors? To the institution as a whole? Explain. 

Hand in your report at the next class-hour. 



1 



LESSON 27 

METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 

The matter of grading students in a class is a subject that is 
intimately connected with the subject of individual differences. 
It is introduced here as an illustration of how this subject is 
related in still another way to educational theory and practice. 

Systems of Marking Students 

Grading on Percentage Basis with Prescribed Passing Mark. — 

One of the two most universally used systems of grading students 
is to give students grades ranging from to 100, with some grade 
as 50, or 60, or 75, or even 80, as a passing mark. 

The theory underlying the granting of percentages is that the 
student is graded in terms of absolute proficiency. If he gets 90 in 
an examination in arithmetic or spelling, he has done 90 % of the 
examination correctly. The system works fairly well here. But 
it falls down completely in such subjects as English composition, 
or history or geography, etc. For who knows what is absolute 
proficiency in composition work for 5th grade children? How 
does such a standard differ from that of the 4th grade, or that 
of the 6th grade? Actually in ordinary practice the grades repre- 
sent at best only a certain percentage of what the teacher con- 
siders the class can do. It is based on two very variable things — 
the teacher's estimate of what the class can do, and second — the 
class itself. If the class is better than usual, the teacher's grades 
stand for better work than usual; if the class is poorer than usual, 
the teacher's grades represent poorer work than usual. Despite 
the best efforts of any teacher his grades are not standardized 
on the basis of a fixed absolute standard but vary with the 
calibre of his pupils. It is impossible under such conditions to 
ever expect that a ''85" will represent a definite standard of work 
in a particular course. The 85 will vary from year to year with 
the same teacher, and it will vary with every two teachers, 
depending on those teacher's estimates of what a class can do. 

191 



192 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(All of these statements have been substantiated in every investi- 
gation on this subject and are no longer open to argument.) 

The Jury System of Grading. — In some cases grades are awarded 
by a committee or jury instead of by one instructor. This 
system eliminates a good deal of the personal bias of a particular 
instructor and undoubtedly does tend to standardize the grades. 
It is especially applicable in grading performance in art, archi- 
tecture, music, and the like. The system is also used in this 
way. All the instructors of Freshman mathematics, as a 
committee, draw up the examination questions. Later each 
instructor grades one question in all the papers of all the 
sections. Here the examination questions are more carefully 
considered than is usually the case, and each question is marked 
for all papers in as nearly the same manner as it is humanly 
possible to provide. But the jury system does not eliminate 
marked variations in grading between juries. 

Grading on Basis of Five Groups. — The other most universally 
used system of grading students is to give the students grades 
in terms of about five letters or numbers, such as A, B, C, D, 
and F; or E, S, M, I, and F; or again 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The A, E, 
or 1 is given to the best students; the B, S, or 2, to the next best 
group, etc. The F or 5 is considered as failure. Sometimes the 
fourth grade, D, I, or 4 is ''not passing" and sometimes it is 
considered as ''conditioned" requiring another examination. 
At still other institutions D is a passing grade but entitles the 
student to but 80 % credit, so that in a 5-hour course the student 
with a D will receive but 4 hours credit. 

It is because of insurmountable difficulties pointed out above 
in connection with the percentage system of marking that this 
system of grading students with five letters has arisen. The 
whole scheme of grading students on the basis of an absolute 
standard of perfection is thrown away, or almost thrown away.^ 
The teacher then roughly divides the class into five groups, the 
excellent students, the good, the fair, the inferior, and the failures. 
More or less of the old scheme survives in the case of deciding 

1 Of course, in those cases where a teacher marks a student by these five 
letters but always translates the letter into a numerical figure so that A 
equals 100 to 95; B, 95 to 85; etc., he is practically following the first scheme 
and not the second. When the second scheme is used properly there are no 
numerical values attached to the letters. 



27 



METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 



193 



just what will constitute a passing standard as distinguished from 
a failure. The essential thing, however, is the division of the 
class into five groups in terms of their general ability and per- 
formance in the particular class. 

Anyone familiar with the laws underlying individual differ- 
ences immediately realizes that these five groups should not 
contain an equal number of students; — that the largest number of 
students should be in the middle group, and that relatively few 
should be in the two .extreme groups, the excellent students and 
the failures. But the study of how teachers grade students shows 
clearly that teachers differ enormously as to how they distribute 
their grades under this scheme. In Table IX is shown the dis- 
tribution of grades in seven courses in the University of Missouri 
prior to 1908. It is clear from this table, and it represents 
conditions in every institution of that time and most institutions 
today, that a student could quite easily win ''honors,'' or a 
scholarship, or make Phi Beta Kappa by electing Philosophy, 
Economics, etc., but would have an extremely small chance of 
obtaining these honors if he grouped in Chemistry. Yet an 
''A" counted equally toward these honors whether obtained in 
Philosophy or Chemistry III. In the same way a poor student 
would have little trouble in passing Philosophy but would stand 
• a good chance of being ''flunked" in English II or Chemistry III. 



Table IX. — Showing the Relative Frequency of Four Grades A, 
B, C, AND F AS Found by Max Meyer in the University op 

Missouri in 1907 ^ 



Course 



Distribution of Grades 



B 



C 



F 



Total No. 
of Students 
Considered 



Philosophy . . . 

Economics 

German II 

Education. . . . 

Mechanics 

English II.... 
Chemistry III 



55 


33 


10 


2 


39 


37 


19 


5 


26 


38 


25 


11 


18 


38 


35 


9 


18 


26 


42 


14 


9 


28 


35 


28 


1 


11 


60 


28 



623 
161 
941 
266 
495 
1098 
1903 



1 Max Meyer, The Grading of Students, Science, Aug. 21, 1908, p. 3. 
13 



194 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The problem educators are now facing in regard to grading 
students is how to make an ''A" or "F" mean the same thing 
whether given by Prof. Smith or Prof. Brown, whether given in 
Philosophy or Chemistry, whether given in 1915 or 1917. 

An important step toward obtaining equitable grading has 
been to apply the conception of our normal surface of distribu- 
tion to the problem. Any group of students (barring excep- 
tional cases considered below) will divide themselves up into 
inferior, average, and superior students and these three groups 
will approximate 25 %, 50 % and 25 % in size, respectively. They 
will do so if the method of grading them is fair. If, however, the 
examination is too easy or too difficult there will appear not a 
normal distribution but one in which there are too many superior 
or too many inferior students, respectively. If in two classes 
of 100 students. Prof. Smith and Prof. Brown require a fair 
amount of work, then 25 % of the students will do superior work, 
50% average work and 25% inferior work. If Prof. Smith 
requires too much and Prof. Brown too little, then it may appear 
that the former has 40% inferior and 10% superior students 
whereas the latter has 10% inferior and 40% superior students. 
If we require each professor to grade 25 % of his students superior, 
50% average and 25% inferior, then we recognize (1) that one 
class of students taken as a whole is about equal to any other, 
class and (2) that students are graded in terms of what an 
average student will do and not in terms of a variable standard 
of what is required by different instructors. In such a case we 
know that a ''superior" student for Prof. Smith has actually 
done better work than % of the students in his class and that a 
''superior" student for Prof. Brown has likewise surpassed % of 
his class. A given grade is not then a grade in terms of any absolute 
standard of perfection hut is a grade in terms of what average 
students do. 

With such a requirement the irregular grading shown in Table 
IX was eliminated to a large extent at the University of Missouri. 
The average of all the grades for the undergraduate courses 
became in 1911, 23.7% superior, 49.9% average, and 26.4 inferior. 
Nineteen of the instructors distributed their grades as shown in 
Table X. Comparison of the individual instructor's gradings 
in this table with those in Table IX shows an enormous improve- 
ment in the matter of uniform grading on the part of the faculty. 



27 



METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 



195 



An "E" now means nearly the same high grade of scholarship 
whether given by one instructor or another. The gradings in 
Table X are, however, still too irregular as respecting Grades *' I " 
and " F " to be entirely satisfactory. 

The Missouri System of Grading. — As can be seen from Table 
X, the Missouri system of grading students provides first of all 



Table XL — Showing the Relative Feequency of the Five Grades 

E, S, M, I, AND F, AS Used by Various Instructors in the 

University of Missouri in 1911^ 



Instructors 


%E 


%s 


% M 


%I 


%F 


A 


7 


29 


51 


8 


5 


B 


5 


23 


52 


15 


5 


C 


3 


21 


51 


21 


4 


D 


7 


21 


56 


8 


8 


E 


6 


15 


60 


13 


6 


F 


1 


22 


55 


17 


5 


G 


2 


17 


64 


11 


6 


H 


3 


21 


52 


18 


6 


I 


3 


24 


46 


21 


6 


J 


3 


20 


51 


20 


6 


K 


3 


20 


53 


16 


8 


L 


3 


23 


47 


17 


10 


M 


2 


19 


55 


14 


10 


N 


4 


19 


45 


23 


9 





5 


20 


43 


21 


11 


P 


7 


21 


47 • 


9 


16 


Q 


3 


13 


52 


19 


13 


R 


5 


11 


43 


29 


12 


S 


3 


15 


47 


20 


15 


Average 


3.9 


19.7 


51.0 
51.0 


16.8 


8.5 




23 


.6 


25.3 



for the students being divided into three groups — superior, 
average, and inferior — so that the first group comprises the best 
25% of the students, the second group the middle 50%, and the 
third the remainder. The superior and inferior are further 

1 Based on the "Report of the Committee on Statistics on the Grading of 
the Semester," Closing Feb., 1911. 



196 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

divided so that in effect there are jfive grades of E (excellent), 
S (superior), M (medium), I (inferior), and F (failure). As 
illustrated in Plate XXVIII the surface of distribution is so 
divided that the difference in ability represented by Grades E and 
S is equal to the difference between S and M, or M and I, or I 



22^ 



Of, 



ijyj/o 



22% 



Grades "S 



Z% 



M 



S 



s 



Plate XXVIII. — A normal surface of distribution divided up into five groups showins 
five grades of scholarship. At the University of Missouri these five grades are callecj 
F (failure),! (inferior), M (medium), S (superior), E (excellent). 

and F. The standard which all instructors are expected to 
reach in their grading is then that 50% of the students shall 
receive an M, 22% an S, 22% an I, 3% an E, and 3% an F. 

One objection to this scheme will immediately occur to some 
readers. Maybe half the class has actually failed and you have 
given most of them a C or D. Will that method of marking be 
fair? Yes, certainly; for if half the class fails, who is to blame? 
Undoubtedly, in practically every case, no one but the teacher. 
The examination was too difficult, or too long, or because of 
poor discipline the students had not studied. This system throws 
the blame for poor work in the class on the person who deserves 
the blame — the teacher. Of course, sometimes a group of 
students will not work, then the only final resort is to ''flunk" 
them. But such cases are rare as compared with those where 
the trouble lies in the main with the instructor. 

Here are the faculty rules of 1917 at George Peabody College 
for Teachers on this subject. They make plain that the above 



27 METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 197 

system applies directly to large classes and only indirectly to 
small classes, and possibly not at all to exceptional classes, such 
as in graduate courses. 

"It is fair to assume that the average student in any undergraduate course 
is equal in ability to the average student in any other undergraduate course. 
Consequently it is fair to expect that all members of the faculty will in the 
long run (when they have marked 500 students, say) give approximately the 
same per cent, of students each of the five grades. 

"It is also fair to assume that the calibre of classes does vary, and that this 
is particularly true in the case of very small classes. Consequently it is fair 
to expect that the members of the faculty will vary considerably in the way 
they mark the members of particular classes. 

"We expect then in the long run that the members of the faculty will all 
use the same standards. We also expect, on the other hand, that there will 
be noticeable variation in the way individual classes will be marked. In the 
light of these assumptions, the following rules are laid down : 

" 1. The quality of the student's work in a course shall be reported to the 
registrar by use of the following grades: A, B, C, D, and F. 

"2. The grade of 'C is designed to represent the performance of the mid- 
dle 50% of the class. The grades of 'B' and *D' represent work that is 
superior and inferior, respectivelj^, to that of the middle group. The grade 
of 'a' is received for markedly superior work, while the grade 
of 'F' is designed for those who have failed and shall receive no credit for 
their work. Students receiving the grade of 'D' will receive but 80% of 
the full credit attached to the course, i. e., in a five-hour course such a student 
will receive but four hours credit. 

"3. It is recognized that the more advanced the student the more selected 
is the class with which he will be grouped and the system of marking will vary 
proportionately. 

"4. Experience has shown that in the long run the instructor will give 
approximately 3% of his students an *A,' 22% of his students a *B,' 50% 
a 'C,' 22% a 'D,' and 3% an 'F'." 

Such a uniformity of grades from the members of a faculty is 
highly desirable and is to be expected so long as it can be 
assumed that the calibre of students in one class is equivalent to 
those in another class. If an instructor gives proportionately 
more low or high grades in his classes than this ideal, he declares 
in so doing that his students are poorer or better than the stu- 
dents in other classes. This is, of course, in many cases an 
actual fact, and when so, an instructor should mark accordingly. 
But in the ordinary course of events one class is pretty nearly 
equivalent to another class as far as ability of the students 
composing it is concerned. 



198 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Varying the Amount of Credit with the Grade Given. — The Uni- 
versity of Missouri further provides that students shall obtain 
varying amounts of credit for their work according as they obtain 
high or low grades. At the present time in a one hour course, a 
student obtaining an E earns 1.2 hours credit, a student obtaining 
an S earns 1.1 hours credit, a student obtaining an M earns 1.0 
hour credit, a student obtaining an I earns 0.9 hour credit, and a 
student obtaining an F earns credit. 

The Carnegie Institute of Technology System of Grading.— 
Two differences, one significant and one slight, are to be found 
between the Carnegie Institute of Technology system of grading 
and that of the University of Missouri. In the former, grades 
are recognized as of two sorts, those for passing work and those 
for work below passing. No attempt is made to legislate as to 
what per cent, of students shall pass in a particular course. That 
is left entirely to the instructor, or his department, for in many 
departments the jury system of marking is employed. This is 
the significant difference referred to above. It rests upon the 
assumption that an instructor can arrange passing students in 
order from best to poorest and he can arrange failing students 
similarly in order of merit, but he can not view passing and 
failing students as belonging to the same group. Professor 
Meyer, who has been responsible for the Missouri System and 
for much of the advance in thinking on this whole subject, writes 
that he has become '^more and more convinced that in determin- 
ing the final grade the group grade should be applied only after 
the failures have been selected." 

The insignificant difference pertains to the number of grades, 
and their distribution. At Carnegie Institute of Technology, 
A and B are given to the best third of passing students, C to the 
middle third, and D and E to the lowest third of passing stu- 
dents. Distribution based on thirds was agreed upon because 
it fitted the distribution of all grades given at the time the 
system was adopted. In addition to the five passing grades, 
I is given to students whose work has been satisfactory except 
that part is not yet finished; F to students who are privileged to 
take a reexamination, and R to students who must repeat the 
course. 

Points for Quality. — Students are required not only to complete 
a certain quantity of work, but also to attain a certain standard 



27 METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 199 

of quality. The passing grades carry the following points of 
quality: — A, 4 points; B, 3 points; C, 2 points; D, 1 point; and 
E, points. A student may pass in all his work but receive too 
few quality points to meet the requirements and so be dropped. 

Present Tendencies in Grading 

Among colleges and universities the tendency is away from the 
percentage system to the group system and to a less extent toward 
the Missouri system, which has been adopted more or less entirely 
in a number of institutions. 

Among secondary schools, today, 30% employ percentage 
systems and 65% the group system. Of those using the group 
system, 44% have three grades above passing, 52% have four 
grades, and 4% have five grades. The National Conference 
Committee on Standards of Colleges and Secondary Colleges 
recommends that, ''if a group system is used, the letters A, B, C, 
or A, B, C, D be employed to indicate passing grades, and that 
E or F, or both E and F, be reserved for failure. The committee 
calls attention to the fact that the majority of colleges use four 
groups above passing, and that the tendency in schools appears 
to be in that direction. * 

"The committee recommends that schools using a percentage 
system follow what appears to be the most common practice, 
of using 60 as the passing grade. ^ 

Discussion of the Problem Assigned in Lesson 26 

With these general considerations before us let us turn now and 
consider the problem which was assigned in Lesson 26. 

The Surfaces of Distribution; What They Show. — The grades 
from the three examinations given in Lesson 26 are plotted in 
surfaces of distribution in Plate XXIX. The three surfaces 
approximate the normal surface of distribution. The first one 
is long drawn out : The effect obtained when the examination is 
too difficult. The low grades show the same fact. The second 
distribution is skewed — most of the grades are bunched at the 
upper end. This is characteristic of too easy an examination 
or one where nearly all could answer the questions in the alloted 
time. If the time had been cut in half the distribution would 
have resembled that of the third examination. 

1 Report in School and Society, March 1, 1918, by Headmaster Ferrand. 



200 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

If we followed the old scheme of marking where, say, 60 was 
the passing mark, we would, in the first examination, if we were 
true to our standards and had the requisite courage, fail all but 
one in the class. In the second examination we would pass 
every one, and in the third we would fail 17, or 71% of the class. 
Averaging the three sets of grades we obtain the results given 
at the bottom of Plate XXIX. These grades would necessitate 
our faihng 14 members of the class, or 58%. If the passing 
grade were 75 all but one of the class would fail. If it were 50 
then 7 would fail, or 29%. 

This example is an extreme one, but is based on an actual case. 
It is, however, useful here as it points out in an exaggerated form 
the real situation that confronts the majority of instructors in 
their marking of students' papers. The grades a class actually 
receives, considering the class as a whole, are dependent on the 
instructor and him alone. If the examination is difficult the 
class as a whole gets low grades, if the examination is easy the 
class as a whole gets high grades. Instructors who mark low are 
generally instructors who require much from their students, 
while instructors who mark high do not require enough. Of 
course, there are many exceptions to this rule. To set up a 
standard such as 60 or 75 as a passing mark is to postulate that 
the instructor is omniscient, that he knows exactly how easy or 
difficult to make an examination. 

The best method of grading is to assume that the average 
student in one class is equal to the average student in another. 
This assumption is correct remarkably often, as determined by 
actual investigations. When this is done, if one is using the 
Missouri system of grading, the middle half of the class, regardless 
of whether they obtain 30, 85, or 50, are graded C. The upper 
fourth are graded A or B, and the lower fourth, D or F. Theoreti- 
cally 3% should receive an A and an equal number an F. In 
actual practice, an instructor should feel free to give no A or F, or 
several, depending on the circumstances of the case. On the 
basis of Plate XXIX. 

1 student would receive an A, or 4% 
6 students would receive a B, or 25% 

10 students would receive a C, or 42% 
5 students would receive a D, or 21% 

2 students would receive an F, or 8 % 



27 



METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 



201 



The A and F grades must depend on circumstances. 

In this particular case Student. 1 is so far ahead that he alone 
would be given an ^' A" unless the work of the class, including I's 
work, was not very good. In the same way no grade of ''F" 
might be given if the work of 23 and 24 was acceptable; or if the 
work was poor 19 might also be given an '^F." But in the long 









.? 



"I 

I* 






^ 



1 



5 



11 



lilt <^ 



iS i3 16 i 



7 S 

«» y 5 i 



C B A 



Z3 



i1 i 10 



•7 2/ 
ir lb 
7 9 
3 S 



IS 
If IS 

)?. k> 

Z t 

























\iiy 










Zl i« iS 








ZiU 


20 7 f 


It S 




u 


13 .7 J'T 


^ iC Z 


10 5 1 iZ 


3 


f P C B h 




It. 


li 








U 


U It 


lis 




IH 


U 


.0 i 


^ 3 




li 


liL 


.5 <? 7 


V ;; 


1 






«i « 



Plate XXIX.— The examination grades given in Table IX and the computed 
final grades plotted in surfaces of distribution, together with their conversion 
into Grades A, B, C, D and F. 



202 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

run, the instructor should give grades approximately as follows : — 
A— 3%, B— 22%, C— 50%, D— 22% and F— 3%. 

If one were using the Carnegie Institute of Technology system 
of grading, the merits of each individual student would be con- 
sidered, starting possibly with the poorest, and it would be 
decided whether each had passed or failed. Those who had 
passed would then be divided into thirds, as described above. 

How TO Grade Papers 

There are undoubtedly many good methods of grading a 
student's paper. Circumstances will determine whether one 
will read the whole paper through and grade it as a whole, or 
whether one will grade each part and then total the parts. The 
two give about the same result. Regardless of how the papers 
are individually scored, when that operation is done, one should 
convert the temporary grades into the grades A, B, C, D, and F. 
Divide the class into four fairly equal groups. Grade the first 
group A and B, the two middle groups C, and the fourth group 
D and F. If there are any exceptionally good or bad papers 
grade them A, or F, accordingly. 

Some instructors find the easiest method is to read the paper 
through, judge its total value and place it in one of seven 
piles according to its merit. When all are finished the piles are 
readjusted if the first two do not contain approximately 25%, the 
next three 50% and the last two 25%. They are then graded, 
respectively. A, B, C + , C, C — , D and F. Practically nothing 
is gained by the subdivision of Group C into three sub-divisions, 
except to make the instructor feel he is doing a more accurate job. 

How to Record Grades. — In Table XI are presented three 
methods of keeping a class-record. The first method consists in 
grading in terms of figures from to 100, recording these figures 
and finally averaging them. This method has little justification. 
The manipulations of large figures takes too long a time, even 
when one has an adding machine at his disposal. 

The second method consists of recording the letter grades. It 
is satisfactory, except when it comes to averaging up the records. 
With only three examinations to average there is little trouble, 
but if one has to average ten grades, how shall he do it? For 
example, how would you finally grade students who received (a) 
A, B, C, C, D, B, C, C, F, and B and (b) B, B, C, D, B, D, C, C, C, 



27 



METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 



203 



and A? The easiest method of keeping one's record book and a 
method as rehable as any other is that shown as the third method 
in Table XL The letters A, B, C, D, and F are represented 

Table XL-Examination Grades, Given in Table VIII, Averaged by 

Three Different Methods 




in the record-book by the figures 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0,_ respec- 
tively (Figures are easier to write than letters to begin with 
and they can readily be averaged. Contrast the labor involved 
in averaging them with that of averaging the figures employed 
in the first method.) Averages between and 0.5 would then be 
graded F; between 0.5 and 1.5, D; between 1.5 and 2.5, O; 



204 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

between 2.5 and 3.5, B; and between 3.5. and 4, A. This scheme 
tends, however, to give too many C's and too few of the other 
grades. A better method is as follows: Before making out one's 
final grades, plot the average grades in the surface of distribution 
as shown in Plate XXX, and award the final grades according 
to their position on that surface. 

A comparison of the final grades awarded in Plates XXIX and 
XXX shows that they are almost identical. The laborious at- 
tempt at great accuracy pursued in the first method of recording 
grades (see Table XI and Plate XXIX) gives practically the 
same results as those obtained by the easier third method (see 



1 



f D C B 


is 






n 








ZZ 


10 li 


S 






zo 


i 1$ 


H 




. 2Y2? 


»^ ii n 


$ 7 


lA 


1 



Plate XXX. — The final grades, computed according to the third method in 
Table XII, plotted in a surface of distribution. 

Table XI and Plate XXX). And in the case of Student 14, 
after all, which is the fairer grade for him, a "C" or a ''B"? 

A rather technical point ought to be known to teachers. In 
any system of averaging grades it is possible for a student who 
has never been graded best in any assignment to obtain the high- 
est average grade, and likewise for a student who has just 
''scraped through" every assignment, to be graded lower on the 
average than one who has failed in many assignments. A 
student who has been consistently B or D (E representing failure) 
should not necessarily be graded A or E just because A students 
part of the time have also received low marks or E students part 
of the time have also received high grades. 

Conclusion 

We are graded in life not according to some ideal standard of 
perfection, but in comparison with our fellows, particularly our 
competitors. Edison is great, not because he approximates 



27 METHODS OF GRADING STUDENTS 205 

perfection but because he is superior to other men. We have 
no standard of perfection as such. Our minister, or lawyer, or 
music teacher, or grocer is superior or inferior in comparison 
with other ministers, lawyers, music teachers, or grocers we 
know. The grading of students should be made frankly on the 
same basis, until such time as definite standards have been estab- 
lished and 'precise methods of ascertaining that a student has or 
has not attained the standard have been developed. At the 
present time such standards, or norms, have been set up in hand- 
writing, spelling and a few other cases. 



LESSON 28 
COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION 

In Lesson 20 a preliminary study was made as to whether those 
who were best at the start were best at the end in such training 
as doing the mirror-drawing experiment. After we had arranged 
the ten individuals A to J (see Table III) with respect to their 
initial and final abilities we found it difficult to express just what 
the relationship between the two orders was. In this lesson we 
shall attempt a more satisfactory study of this point. 

So far we have considered the average and the average devia- 
tion as measurements which help us in our study of individual 
differences. Still another measurement is needed: — ^^the coeffici- 
ent of correlation. This measurement is needed when we attempt 
to compare the order of superiority of a group of individuals at 
one time with their order obtained at another time. For ex- 
ample, in the results obtained from Lesson 20, just what is the 
relationship between the two orders? On the whole, we can 
see that those who ree best at the start are best at the end; still 
there are exceptions. And if, instead of B holding 1st and 4th 
positions, respectively, he held 1st and 10th positions (i. e., had 
a final score of 90), we would find it extremely difficult to state 
just how this change had really affected the entire relationship 
between the two sets of figures. Here are these two cases: — • 



206 



28 



COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION 



207 



Case I 






Case II 




(Based on actual data) 






(B's data altered) 




Initial Ability 


Final 


Ability 


Initial 


AbiUty 


Final 


Ability 


B 76 


G 


35 


B 


76 


G 


35 


I 129 


J 


36 


I 


129 


J 


36 


J 131 


I 


40 


J 


131 


I 


40 


C 210 


B 


50 


C 


210 


E 


52 


E 216 


E 


52 


E 


216 


C 


58 


A 232 


C 


58 


A 


232 


H 


60 


G 283 


H 


60 


G 


283 


A 


61 


F 286 


A 


61 


F 


286 


F 


70 


D 363 


F 


70 


D 


363 


D 


85 


H 701 


D 


85 


H 


701 


B 


90 



From a study of the two sets of relationships it is clear that 
there is a closer relationship in the first case than in the second. 
But it is impossible to estimate this difference by looking at the 
figures. We need some clear and definite method of expressing 
such relationships. This is exactly what the coefficient of 
correlation gives us. Below is an example fully worked out. 
Study it carefully so as to be able to obtain the coefficient of 
correlation in similar examples yourself. (Only advanced 
students in psychology or education are called upon to use cor- 
relation, but the term is used very freely in gatherings of educators 
today and should at least be comprehended by all.) 

How TO Obtain a Coefficient of Correlation 

The several steps involved in obtaining a coefficient of correla- 
tion are as follows : — 

1. Arrange your individuals in order of merit in the two cases to 
be studied. (If two or more individuals are tied, then the follow- 
ing scheme is to be followed: Suppose 12 children received these 
grades in arithmetic— A, 100; B, 90; C, 90; D, 85; E, 80; F, 80; 
G, 80; H, 75; I, 75; J, 75; K, 75; and L, 70. Then rank A 
as 1; B and C as 23^ (i. e., the average of 2 and 3); D as 4; E, 
F, and G as 6 (i. e., the average of 5, 6, and 7) ; H, I, J, and K as 
9>^ (i. e., the average of 8, 9, 10 and 11); and L, as 12.) 



208 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

2. Obtain the differences in the rank of each individual in the 
two ratings (d). 

3. Square these differences (d^). 

4. Obtain the sum of these squared differences (Sd^). 

5. Multiply this sum by 6 (GSd^). 

6. Count up the number of individuals being studied (n), 
square this number (n^), subtract 1 from that (n^ — 1), and then 
multiply the difference by the number (n(n2 — 1)). 

7. Divide the amount obtained in the 5th step by the amount 
obtained in the 6th step. 

8. Subtract this decimal from 1.00, observing algebraic signs. 
This final decimal is the coefficient of correlation. 

Here is the solution of the coefficient of correlation of the first 
set of figures. (Case 1.) 



Initial ability 


Final ability 


Indi- 
vidual 
con- 
sidered 


Rank 


Individual 


Rank 


Individual 



Differences in 
rank 



Differ- 
ences 
squared 



1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 



B 


1 


G 


B 


I 


2 


J 


I 


J 


3 


I 


J 


C 


4 


B 


C 


E 


5 


E 


E 


A 


6 


C 


A 


G 


7 


H 


G 


F 


8 


A 


F 


D 


9 


F 


D 


H 


10 


D 


H 



1 - 4 
2-3 
3-2 
4-6 
5-5 
6-8 
7 - 1 
8-9 
9-10 
10-7 

Total.. 



9 
1 
1 
4 

4 
36 
1 
1 
9 

66 



Formula for coefficient of correlation (the letter r" is the 
common abbreviation for this term) : — 

f{yA2 d^ = the differences squared, illustrated 



r = 1 



r = 1 - 



by the ten squared deviations in 
the last column. 



n (n2-l) 

6 X 66 Sd^ = the sum of all the squared deviations, 



10 (100-1) 



as 66 above. 



28 



COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION 



209 



r = 1 



396 



r = 



r = 



990 

1-0.40 
+ 0.60 



n = the number of individuals being con- 
sidered, as 10 in this case, i. e., the 
10 individuals, A-J. 



The coefficient of correlation (r) between initial ability and final 
ability in the case of these 10 individuals is +0.60. 

Here is the solution of the coefficient of correlation of the 
second set of figures above. (Case 2.) 



Rank 


Initial ability 


Final ability 


Differences 
in rank 


Differences 
squared 


1 


B 


G 


-9 


81 


2 


I 


J 


— 1 




3 


J 


I 






4 


C 


E 


— 1 




5 


E 


C 






6 


A 


H 


— 1 




7 


G 


A 


6 


36 


8 


F 


F 








9 


D 


D 








10 


H 


B 


4 


16 
138 



r = 1 - 



62d^ 



n(n2-l) 



= 1- 



6 X 138 



10(100-1) 



1- 



828 
990 



= 1 - 0.84 = + 0.16 



What a Coefficient of Correlation Means 

''Correlation expresses to what extent two traits vary coordi- 
nately, independently, or antagonistically.''^ For example, 
scholarship varies coordinately with inteUigence, independently 
of an alphabetic Hst of the class and antagonistically to the pres- 
ence of ill health. In other words, (1) the best scholar is most 
hkely to be the brightest child in the class, the poorest scholar 
to be the dullest child in the class; (2) the best scholar is no more 
likely to be the student whose name is Aaron than ZuUen, and 

^Joseph Jastrow, Character and Temperament, 1915, p. 509. 
14 



210 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

the same is true respecting the poorest scholar; (3) the best 
scholar is most Ukely to be the child with the least sickness, while 
the poorest scholar is most likely to be the child with the most 
sickness. 

A coefficient of correlation of +1.00 means that the two traits 
vary coordinately and perfectly so; a correlation of +0.75 means 
that the traits vary coordinately but not perfectly so; a correla- 
tion of means that the two traits vary independently; and a 
correlation of —1.00 means that the two traits vary antagonisti- 
cally. Coefficients of correlation range, then, from +1.00 
through to — 1.00; any single number having a certain signifi- 
cance on a scale from coordinate variability, through independent 
variability to antagonistic variability. 

The correlation of +0.60 which was obtained between initial 
performance and final performance in the mirror-drawing 
experiment means that on the whole the best at the start was 
best at the end, the poorest at the start was poorest at the end, 
the fifth at the start was fifth at the end, etc. If it had been 
exactly this relationship we would have had a correlation of 
+ 1.00. As we had less than +1.00, i. e., +0.60, it means that a 
few of the individuals were out of place from this perfect arrange- 
ment. This we find in the cases of G, B, and H; G advancing 
from seventh to first place, B dropping- back from first to fourth 
place, and H advancing from tenth to seventh. Besides these 
decided changes in position, all the other individuals except E 
change place to a slight extent. Now in the case of our second 
case with its correlation of +0.16, we have a statement which 
indicates that there is practically no relationship between 
the two sets of figures. We can expect that only to a very slight 
extent will it be true that the best at the start will be the best at 
the end and the poorest at the start will be poorest at the end. 
Rather will we expect to find decided differences between the 
two groups of figures such as B's change from first to last place, 
G's change from seventh to first place, and H's change from 
tenth to sixth place. 

Assignment for Laboratory Hour 

Obtain the coefficient of correlation for the problems given 
below. Do as many of these problems as you can during the 
laboratory hour. Check up your answer for each example, 



28 



COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION 



211 



through consultation with the instructor, before going on to the 
next problem. 

Records of Ten Individuals in Mirror-drawing Experiment 



Trials 


A 


B 


C 


D 


E 


F 


G 


H 


I 


J 


1 


232 


76 


210 


363 


216 


286 


283 


701 


129 


131 


5 


133 


70 


108 


132 


110 


97 


76 


98 


84 


75 


10 


88 


54 


71 


121 


75 


89 


56 


72 


55 


49 


15 


89 


53 


60 


86 


75 


81 


43 


55 


59 


38 


20 


61 


50 


58 


85 


52 


70 


35 


60 


40 


36 



1. Obtain the correlation between the fifth performance and 
the final performance in the mirror-drawing experiment. 

2. Obtain the correlation between the tenth performance and 
the final performance. 

3. Obtain the correlation between the fifteenth performance 
and the final performance. 

4. Suppose the following grades had been given to ten students 
in High School, what would be the correlation between their 
grades in (a) algebra and English, (6) algebra and Latin, and (c) 
algebra and biology? 



Students 


Algebra 


English 


Latin 


Biology 


A 


98 


A 


F 


83 


B 


96 


A- 


D- 


94 


C 


93 


B + 


D 


86 


D 


89 


B 


C- 


72 


E 


85 


B- 


C 


91 


F 


84 


c+ 


c+ 


88 


G 


82 


c 


B- 


69 


H 


80 


c- 


B 


95 


I 


75 


D 


A- 


77 


J 


70 


F 


, A 


90 



5. Answer the following questions: — 

(a) What does a correlation of +1.00 mean? 

(6) What does a correlation of —1.00 mean? 



212 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(c) What does a correlation of mean? 

(d) Could you have a correlation larger than +1.00 or smaller 
than -1.00? 

6. Study these two statements until you feel that you compre- 
hend somewhat of their meaning: — (1) Two individuals selected 
at random will have a correlation of with respect to any trait, 
two brothers will have a correlation of about +0.40 with respect 
to any trait, and two twins will have a correlation of about +0.80 
with respect to any trait. (2) Similarly father and son will 
correlate about +0.30 while grandfather and grandchild will 
correlate about +0.16. 

Hand in your report drawn up in the usual way at the next 
class-hour. 



LESSON 29 

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS- 
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS 

The Relationship Between Human Traits 

In our everyday life we are constantly contradicting the prin- 
ciples set forth in Lesson 25. For we speak of people as either 
good or bad, honest or dishonest, brave or cowardly, blondes or 
brunettes, tall or short, and so on. In this way, we divide people 
up into two or more groups. But the conception developed in 
connection with the surface of distribution was that individuals 
belong to one group with respect to any trait. We saw further 
in that lesson that individuals differ greatly in some traits, as 
in the case of intelligence, where they range all the way from idiots 
to geniuses. But the great bulk of individuals are all much alike 
and the number of individuals who differ from the average 
decreases very rapidly as the amount of that difference is 
increased. 

In our everyday life we are also constantly contradicting 
another principle already touched on in Lessons 20, 21, and 28. 
For we assume that poor ability in one respect is compensated 
for by good ability in another. So we say over and over, ''I 
never was any good in mathematics but always got good grades 
in languages," or vice versa. Or we say of a stupid boy, ^'He 
just can't get his school work but it's wonderful how handy he 
is with tools. You should see the table he made." We really 
mean in such cases that because the boy can't get his lessons, 
therefore, he is better than most boys in manual training. It 
would be very nice if this were the case. But unfortunately 
it is not. Many investigations in which correlations have been 
made between ability in two traits have shown that negative 
correlations are seldom found. This means that superiority 
in one trait is seldom accompanied by inferiority in some other 
desirable trait. In other words, superiority in one trait is usually 

213 



214 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

accompanied more or less by superiority in all traits and inferior- 
ity in one is accompanied by inferiority in all. Individual excep- 
tions occur from time to time, but not so often as we popularly 
assume. The correlations between school subjects, according to 
Starch^ are as follows: 

Arithmetic and Language. . . , +0.85 Language and Spelling. . . . +0. 71 

Arithmetic and Geography ... .83 Geography and History .... .81 

Arithmetic and History .73 Geography and Reading. . . ,80 

Arithmetic and Reading .67 Geography and Spelling .52 

Arithmetic and Spelling .55 History and Reading .67 

Language and Geography .85 History and Spelling .37 

Language and History 77 Reading and Spelling .58 

Language and Reading .83 

Starch goes on to state that 'Hhese correlations are almost 
twice as high as those previously quoted^ and represent very 
close correlations. They would warrant the interpretation that 
the pupil who is good, mediocre, or poor, in a given subject, is good, 
mediocre, or poor, to very nearly the same, but not equal, degree 
in all other subjects so far as his abilities are concerned. Such 
lack of agreement as does exist is due probably to a difference of 
interest and industry on the part of the pupil in different subjects 
and to a real difference in abilities in the various fields. Thus 
spelling ability correlates apparently less closely with ability 
in other subjects than abilities in these other subjects correlate 
among themselves." 

Many pages of data could be presented to sustain the point 
that "intellectual and scholastic abilities are for the most part 
closely correlated.^' 

How Coefficients of Correlation are Utilized in 
Psychology and Education 

The correlations between various school subjects, just quoted, 
illustrate one use to which this mathematical method of measur- 
ing to what an extent two traits vary has been put. Such ques- 
tions as this one and many others of a similar nature confront 
the psychologist and educator. Let us consider some other 
examples where correlation has been used. 

^ D. Starch, Educational Psychology, 1920, pp. 56-57. 
2 E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1903, p. 37ff 



29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 215 

The data on initial and final performance in mirror-drawing 
was reduced to the one figure +0.60, which expresses the extent 
to which these two abilities vary coordinately. 

The writer^ wished to determine whether the results he had 
obtained in rating the efficiency of advertisements by a laboratory 
method would check up with business conditions. He therefore 
correlated the results he had obtained by two different laboratory 
methods with each other and with the ratings of these advertise- 
ments as furnished him (a) by the owners of the business and 
(b) by the advertising agency representing the business concern. 

He obtained these correlations: — • 

Correlation between the results of the two laboratory 

methods +0.95 

Correlation between the results of first laboratory method 

and the company rating +0.89 

Correlation between the results of first laboratory method 

and the agency rating. +0 . 87 

Correlation between the results of second laboratory 

method and the company rating +0.84 

Correlation between the results of second laboratory 

method and the agency rating +0.92 

Correlation between the company rating and the agency 

rating +0 . 87 

Apparently then the laboratory methods of estimating the 
efficiency of these advertisements were as accurate as the methods 
of the company or of its advertising experts. That meant that 
the writer who knew nothing about advertising in those days, nor 
about this particular business, could determine the efficiency of 
its advertisements as accurately as could the men who made 
these things their specialty. 

Take another example. Yerkes of Harvard University 
devised a series of tests (The Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale Test) 
whereby the general intelligence of children can be estimated 
surprisingly accurately. Garrison^ tried the tests on college 
students and obtained a correlation of only +0.19 between the 
ratings given the students by the Yerkes test and their college 

1 Edward K. Strong, Jr., Relative Merit of Advertisements, 1911, p. llff. 

2 S. C. Garrison, The Yerkes Point Scale for Measuring Mental Ability 
as Applied to Normal Adults, School and Society, June 23, 1917. 



216 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

grades; also a correlation of +0.15 between the test ratings and 
the combined opinions of eight professors as to the students* 
general ability. Of course neither college grades nor the com- 
bined opinions of professors accurately portray the real ability 
of college students. We all know that. Still they are accurate 
enough so that if a test does not correlate with them more than 
+0.19 we judge that the test is practically worthless. This low 
correlation means, then, that Yerkes' intelligence test is of little 
value in classifying adults in terms of their general intelligence. 
It is, on the other hand, as already stated, of real value in classify- 
ing children. 

When Kelley^ attacked the problem of how far he could go in 
prophesying what a student would do in high school on the basis of 
his records in grammer school, he obtained the correlations 
between the student's grades in the 4th to 7th grades (a 7-year 
grammer school was studied) and in the first year of high school. 
The final correlation was found to be +0.79 between grammar 
school and high school work. Kelley urges on the basis of his 
study that the grades of a child should be kept on a card for his 
entire school career, since they form the very best basis now 
obtainable from which we can estimate what a child will do in 
higher schooling. And it is quite likely when we come to know 
more about vocational guidance that we shall find these records 
of great value in scientifically guiding boys and girls into the 
careers for which they are most adapted. 

These examples are only three out of hundreds that might be 
given all going to show how necessary it is to obtain a coefficient 
of correlation in order to solve many psychological and educa- 
tional problems. At the present point in this course all that is 
desired is that you obtain an idea of how the correlation is 
obtained and something as to what it means. As you progress 
in your training along psychological and educational lines you 
will run across this topic again and again and after a time you 
will commence to feel at home with the subject. What a cor- 
relation means is a difficult conception to acquire and cannot be 
gotten in a few minutes or even in a few hours. It requires time 
in just the same way that it takes time to familiarize oneself with 
the centigrade thermometer or the metric system so that the 
various figures are immediately comprehended. 

^ Truman L. Kelley, Vocational Guidance, 1914. 



29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 217 

Psychological Tests 

One of the jBelds of research in which correlation has been used 
most extensively is that of developing tests to measure mental 
ability. Here we have the task of devising some test and then 
determining just how closely the scores in the test agree with the 
measure of the individual's abihty in some other respect — the 
latter is spoken of as the criterion. For example, we are inter- 
ested in devising tests which will determine who can and who 
can not profit by a college education. When the test scores 
have been obtained, they are correlated with the grades these 
same students get in their college work. If the correlation is 
high, we decide that the test is a good one; if the correlation is 
low, the test is discarded or radically revised. In this way we 
test out the test before putting the test scores to use. 

Three types of psychological test are employed today: — (1) the 
inteUigence test, (2) the trade or educational test, and (3) the 
vocational guidance test. 

Intelligence Tests 

The intelligence test measures the mental alertness of the 
individual. To the writer the inteUigence test measures the 
abihty to learn and to retain what is learned. Possibly, in an 
indirect way, it is a measure of the chemical changes that take 
place in the brain which account for learning and retention. 
Psychologists are pretty well agreed that the capacity which is 
measured is innate and is very little affected by education or 
experience. 

The most famous intelhgence test is that of Binet and Simon, 
two French psychologists, who first pubHshed their test in 1908. 
Its 1911 revision has been used very extensively. The Stanford 
revision, 1 the work of Terman, is accepted as one of the best tests 
of the sort for American children. The six year old test is as 
follows : — 

1. The child is asked, ''Show me your right hand," then left 
ear, right eye, left hand, right ear, and finally the left eye. He 

iL. M. Terman, The Measurement of Intelligence, \^\^. (Used by per- 
mission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, 
the authorized publishers.) 



218 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

must get three correct out of three, or five correct out of six, or 
no score for this part is credited. If he gets the five correct, it 
counts ''two months," as do each of the remaining five parts. 

2. The child is shown four pictures of human beings. In 
each picture a part is missing, as, the eye, the mouth, the nose, 
the arms. The child must point to the missing part in three of 
the four pictures, not consuming more than 25 seconds for each 
picture. 

3. The child must count correctly 13 pennies. He is allowed 
two trials. 

4. He must show his comprehension of two of these three 
questions : 

(a) What's the thing to do if it is raining when you start 

to school? 

(b) What's the thing to do if you find that your house is 

on fire? 

(c) What's the thing to do if you are going some place 

and miss your train (car)? 

5. When asked ''What is that?" and at the same time shown a 
"nickel," he must reply correctly. Also with "penny," "quar- 
ter," and "dime." Three out of four must be named correctly. 

6. He must repeat correctly word for word, after one read- 
ing, one of the following three sentences, or repeat two of them 
with not more than one word incorrect in each. 

(a) "We are having a fine time. We found a little mouse 

in the trap." 
(6) "Walter had a fine time on his vacation. He went 

fishing every day." 
(c) We will go out for a long walk. Please give me my 

pretty straw hat." 

The child is given such questions and scored in terms of what 
he can do. The total gives his mental age. Thus, he may be 
actually six years and six months old but scores in the test seven 
years and six months. He is spoken of as 7J^^ years mental age; 
or one year older mentally than actually. 

Another measure is employed in this connection. That is the 
Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.). It is found by dividing the mental 
age by the actual age. In this case it would be 115 (dropping 
the decimal point). 



29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 219 

There are today a great variety of intelligence tests, many 
constructed quite differently from this one. The test known as 
Army Alpha was used to grade soldiers during the late war. It 
contained 212 questions. The numerical score was stated in 
terms of A, B, C + , C, C — , D, and E. (Refer to Lesson 25 where 
certain results of this test are discussed.) 

Twenty of the 212 questions were simple problems in arith- 
metic. Sixteen of them were as follows: — Check the best com- 
pletion to the statement ''Gold is more suitable than iron for 
making money because gold is pretty ( ), iron rusts easily ( ), 
gold is scarcer and more valuable ( ) . Another part of 40 ques- 
tions necessitated that the word ''same" or "opposite" be under- 
lined according as the paired words meant nearly the same, or 
nearly the opposite. The first and last three pairs were: — 
"cold — hot," "long — short," "bare — naked," "lugubrious — 
maudlin," "desuetude — disuse," "adventitious — accidental." 
(The words "same — opposite" were printed opposite each of the 
forty pairs.) 

The Binet test is typical of an individual test as it is so con- 
structed that it must be given to one individual at a time. The 
Army Alpha is typical of a group test; several hundred can be 
tested at one time. Individuals may be easily classified into 
groups on the basis of one or more group tests. In many cities 
children are so classified and placed in special classes for the 
mentally defective, the dull, the average, and the superior. But 
when careful diagnosis of an individual's mental condition is 
necessary, this has to be done by individual examination. 

Use of Mental Tests for College Entrance. — Considerable 
interest has been recently aroused by the introduction of mental 
tests as part of the machinery for deciding whether this or that 
student should be admitted to college. The time has not yet 
arrived definitely to evaluate their use in this connection. But 
let us consider one such study by Thurstone^ as to the relationship 
between scores in mental tests and scholastic work in college. 

The Freshman students in the Margaret Morrison College of 
Carnegie Institute of Technology were given six different tests 
and the scores combined into one final rating, so calculated as to 
range from —25 to +105. The distribution is shown in Plate 

1 L. L. Thurstone, Mental Tests for College Entrance, Journal of Educa- 
tional Psychology, 1919, pp. 129-142, 



220 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

XXXI. The lower critical score at +10 was selected so as to 
divide off "the largest proportion of failures without excluding 
any students who have made good." If the Freshmen who fell 
below this critical score in their test papers had all been refused 
admission then seven out of the eleven who were flunked out 
would have been eliminated at the start. Furthermore, eight of 
the seventeen who were placed on probation for poor scholarship 
would have been eliminated. And at the same time, not one of 
the students who was able to carry the work would have been 
prevented from getting a college education. It would probably 



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% Students rated ^/ffh iii/ focu/ty 



Plate XXXI. — Showing distribution of Freshmen in terms of mental test 
scores; also the scholastic records of the young women. 



have been better to save these fifteen young women the discour- 
agement which comes from failure and to advise them to take 
up some other work. 

In Plate XXXII we have what is technically called a scatter 
diagram. On it each Freshman is shown as a dot, so placed as to 
indicate (a) the intelligence test rating and (6) the combined 
estimate of her instructors. (These estimates range from 1 to 10, 
10 being the highest estimate.) Thus the student at the extreme 
lower left hand corner received a mental test rating of —20 and 
the instructors' estimate of 1, whereas the student at the extreme 
upper right hand corner received a rating of +105 and an esti- 
mate of 10. The correlation here between intelligence test 
ratings and combined instructors' estimates is +0.60. 

Two critical scores are shown in this plate. All the Freshmen 
rated below the lower critical mental test rating (+10) are below 
the average in the opinion of the faculty and all who scored above 



29 



CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 



221 



the upper critical mental test rating (+85) are rated above the 
average in the opinion of the faculty. 

The correlation of +0.60 tells us here how close the relation- 
ship is between test ratings and the instructors' estimates. The 
critical scores mark those points at which we can divide the 
group into three parts, so that all the inferior students in both 



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and mental test rating. 

test and instructors' estimates are at one end, all the superior 
students in both cases are at the other end, and the remainder 
of the students are in between. Such conditions are essential 
if good diagnostic results are to be obtained. 



Trade and Educational Tests 

What is needed in schools and industry is tests that measure 
ability to do certain specific work, such as column addition, with 
a specified degree of speed and accuracy, handwriting of such 
and such merit, driving an auto truck up to standard require- 
ments, or doing the work of a journey man carpenter. Such 
tests differ from intelligence tests as discussed above for they 
measure specific ability (or performance) to do a definite task 
at this time, not general ability. The Kansas Silent Reading 
Test (Lesson 21) is typical of many educational tests. Plate 
XXXIII shows a portion of the Thorndike Handwriting Scale. 
The handwriting of any individual can be compared with the 
specimens in the scale and graded accordingly. 



222 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The norms proposed for handwriting in terms of this scale 
are: — 



Grade II III IV V VI VII VIII 

Speedi 35 45 55 64 72 77 80 

Quality: 

Usual 7.0 7.8 8.6 9.3 9.9 10.5 11.0 

Best 8.5 9.3 10.1 10.8 11.4 12.0 12.5 

During the war thousands of soldiers were trade-tested in 
order to determine how good they were along certain occupa- 
tional lines of value to the army. Men claiming auto truck 
driving experience, for example, were required to drive a truck 
over a standardized course on which they were scored on certain 
specified points, as, for example, driving forwards and then back- 
wards over an S-curve without running off the road. In this 
way the truck driving ability of each of such soliders was meas- 
ured according to a standardized procedure and so expressed that 
every trade-test officer understood just what it meant. (Con- 
trast this highly standardized method of measurement with 
our present inability to state what a 4th or 12th grade student can 
do.) 

Vocational Guidance Tests 

Vocational guidance tests differ from both intelligence tests 
and trade tests in that they are made to indicate future ability 
to do certain specific work after the individual has been trained 

^ Speed indicates "letters per minute" without substantial loss in quality 
of writing, when the material being written is so familiar as to require no 
time for study or reflection, and when the total time of the test trial is not 
over three minutes. 

Usual Quality, the quality used by the pupil in history, geography or 
composition papers, is probably a better practical index of efficiency than 
the writing done in the writing class or under instructions to "write as well 
as possible." 

Best Quality indicates the quality written when the instructions are to 
"write as well as you can." The above standards are the medians that may 
reasonably be expected at the middle of the second half year in each grade, 
where the school is fairly typical of American public schools in its population 
and is well organized. 



29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 223 

for the work, whereas intelhgence tests measure general abihty 
to learn and retain, and trade tests measure present, not future 
abihty. When really serviceable vocational guidance tests 
have been developed it will be possible to foretell whether an 
individual can make good or not along this or that line. 

Very few such tests are in existence today. Probably the 
best developed series is that of Seashore^ for determining musical 
ability. The Bureau of Personnel Research at Carnegie Insti- 



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Plate XXXIII. — Samples taken from Thorndike Scale for Handwriting. 

tute of Technology is engaged in developing trade and vocational 
guidance tests which will indicate whom to hire and whom not 
to hire as salesmen for life insurance companies. In Plate 
XXXIV is shown one of the latest developments in this field. 
Seventy-five men and women in the School of Life . Insurance 
Salesmanship were given five tests and an extensive application 
blank to fill out. The combined scores from all six blanks are 
^ C. E. Seashore, Psychology of Musical Talent^ 1919. 



224 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



expressed in figures from -11 to +24. Later the production 
records of these individuals were obtained and checked against 
the test scores. The plate shows quite clearly that the methods 
employed here by Ream and Yoakum have high predictive value 
as to who can pass the course and who will sell insurance after 
they graduate. 

Interest Analysis.— In addition to intelligence tests, interest 
analysis blanks have been found very useful as a part of trade 













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29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 225 

and vocational guidance tests. Here the applicant is given a 
list of items arranged in groups, such as : — 

actors fat men sporting pages 

architect fat women love stories 

artist thin men detective stories 

astronomer thin women Harold Bell Wright 

auctioneer tall men Life (the magazine) 

After each item he is asked to indicate his reaction to it by a letter; 
L, if he likes the object in question; D, if he dislikes it; 0, if he 
has no decided feeling; and U, if he has no knowledge of the 
item. 

Men who become successful life insurance salesmen like the 
following: — outdoor work, working with people, people with 
opinions opposite to one's own, fashionably dressed people, chil- 
dren, ministers, lawyers, conservative people, working alone, 
talkative people, etc. An individual, it has been found, is not 
so likely to succeed, if he likes the following: — being an architect, 
or draftsman, or auto repair man; working with things, writing 
personal letters, cautious people, carelessly dressed people, 
gamblers, undertakers. 

At the present time theories are out of place as to why such 
likes and dislikes have anything to do with selling. The fact of 
the case is that they are of diagnostic value. 



15 



LESSON 30 
SUMMARY OF LESSONS 19 TO 29 

The first part of this text-book has dealt with the learning 
process, and the second part with individual differences. A third 
general conception has been developed as to the meaning of Situa- 
tion, Bond and Response. These conceptions can be schematically 
represented by the learning curve, the surface of distribution and 
by the letters S-B-R. 

What has been covered in this second part may be grouped 
under six main heads: — 

Causes of Individual Differences 

A great number of factors combine to produce any one individ- 
ual. How many these are and what they are is largely unknown. 
The thyroid gland has been pointed out as one such factor. But 
there is little ground to believe that it is a factor independent 
entirely of other factors; rather it is to be supposed that it affects 
many other factors and that they in turn affect it. 

All the factors that affect an individual and so cause him to 
differ from other individuals may be grouped under the two 
heads of heredity and environment. Each individual is born 
with a certain combination of factors. And each individual is 
confronted with a different environment from all of his fellows. 
What he finally becomes is due to the effect of these two. The 
modifications of his native behavior due to efforts to adjust him- 
self to his environment is called training. Training is thus 
always a composite of heredity and environment. In lessons 
31 to 50 many additional facts will be pointed out showing just 
how heredity and environment contribute toward training. 

How Individuals Differ 

Contrary to popular notion, men do not divide up into two or 
more sharply defined groups or types. Instead, in nearly every 

226 



29 CORRELATION BETWEEN HUMAN TRAITS 227 

case, they are found to all belong to one type. But not all mem- 
bers of the type are alike; they all differ more or less. Their 
differences may, however, be viewed as variations from a central 
tendency, or average individual. And, moreover, many individ- 
uals are found to differ only a little from this central tendency 
and only a very few individuals to differ greatly from it. The 
normal surface of distribution pictures this conception. 

In comparing individuals who belong to different groups, such 
as whites and negroes, or army officers and enlisted men, or fourth 
grade and eighth grade children, it is found that members of the 
two groups overlap; that seldom is there a sharp break between 
two groups. So true is all this that it is extremely difficult to 
find methods to distinguish between members of different groups. 
But until such methods are discovered the sciences of employ- 
ment management and vocational guidance cannot be established. 

In the specific field of learning, individuals differ with respect 
to initial performance, amount and rate of learning, and final 
performance. The effect of heredity and previous training upon 
these three has been pointed out. 

How Traits or Abilities Within One Individual are 

Related 

Here, again, popular opinion has been found to be in error. An 
individual who is superior in one trait tends to be superior in 
many traits. Nature does not usually compensate for weakness 
in one ability by developing another to make up for it. In 
other words, desirable traits, for the most part, correlate. 

There is, however, considerable truth in the popular view, when 
viewed from another angle. The child, for example, who is 
awkward in athletic games goes off and does something else. 
Later in life he may be noted for the musical talent which would 
not have been developed if he had played like other boys. The 
key to an understanding of many a person's behavior is a knowl- 
edge of his former failures, for by now they are covered up as 
well as possible and compensated for through interest in other 
activities. Often, although not always, the failures remain sore 
points and unexpected reactions occur when they are touched 
upon. The story in Lesson 1 of the man who objected to the 



228 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

church bells is an example of an unexpected reaction because of 
the soreness of failure. 

/ ■ 

The Basis from Which to Measure Individual 
Differences 

Any group of individuals, barring exceptional cases, are 
distributed about a central tendency, as pictured by a surface of 
distribution. The natural point from which to measure how each 
individual differs from the group is this central tendency, or 
position of the average person. Each individual can then be 
thought of as so much superior or inferior to this central tendency. 
Now this is just what a man ordinarily does when he expresses 
a judgment about another. He states that the other one is tall 
or short, good or bad, educated or uneducated, in terms of his 
notion of what an average man is in that respect. So the most 
prominent minister, or doctor, or school teacher, or carpenter 
in a small town is rated very superior, just because he is superior 
to the average in the town. In terms of average ability in his 
line in the state he may be quite inferior. But an interesting 
aspect of such judgments is that the average man does not realize 
he is making judgments in terms of a central tendency; he thinks 
he is making them in terms of perfection. Grades in school are 
always viewed as expressing the percentage of perfection attained 
by the child. The two lessons on grading students make clear 
that this is not and cannot be the case. 

Norms have recently been developed to enable judgments to 
be made in terms of definite standards which all can understand. 
A norm, we have seen, is a measure of what an average person can 
do, based on measurements of a large number of individuals. So 
we have today norms for the various grades in certain work in 
arithmetic, for handwriting, spelling, and the like. In the future 
norms will exist for a great deal of school work and for much in 
industry. A norm is not, however, a standard of perfection, but 
a standard in terms of average performance. 

In the field of testing general intelligence, or mental alertness, 
mental age is employed as a measure. It is often divided by 
actual age giving a quotient or ratio, called the I.Q. The inten-, 
tion is to have this I.Q. so standardized that the decimal 1.00 
will represent normal ability, i. e., the proper mental develop- 



30 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 19 TO 29 229 



merit for the individual with that actual age. And the word 
*' proper" means in this connection that mental development 
which goes on the average with the given actual age. 

Statistical Tools in the Study of Individual 
Differences 

An introductory psychology is not the place to stress statis- 
tical methods. But without comprehension of certain statis- 
tical tools one can hardly understand many important facts and 
principles dealing with individual differences. 

There are three measures of the central tendency. Everyone 
is familiar with the average of a set of figures. But few are at 
all familiar with the other two measures — median and mode. 
The method of obtaining them can be illustrated from the data 
given in Table VII. The median means the middle datum when 
all the data have been arranged in order of merit. Thus the 
median performance in the fourth grade would be 6 problems 
attempted and 33^ problems solved correctly, for 50% of the 
pupils did better, or equal to, 6 and 33^^ respectively, and 
50% did poorer, or equal to, these two medians. The modey 
on the other hand, means that performance which is typical 
of the largest number of individuals. Thus, the mode would be 
6 problems attempted (21% did 6 and only 14% did 7 or 5) and 
3 and 4 solved correctly (14% did both 3 and 4). In the latter 
case there are two modes, is quite often the case.^ The 
mode is not used very often, but the median is used very fre- 
quently in the field of educational psychology. It has this 
decided advantage over the average that it tells at what point 
a class, for example, is divided into two equal parts, so that half 
of the students are superior to the median and half inferior. 

Measurement of variability of a group from its central tend- 
ency is obtained by the average deviation. There are other 
measures but lack of space forbids mention of them. 

A complete expression of both central tendency and variability 
is afforded by the surface of distribution. 

^ The student who is interested will find it worth while to refer to E. L. 
Thorndike, Theory of Mental and Social Measurements, 1913; H. O. Rugg, 
Statistical Methods Applied to Education, 1917; or C. Alexander, School 
Statistics and Publicity, 1919. 



230 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The relationship of one trait to another is measured by the 
coefficient of correlation. It may be pictured by a scatter 
diagram. 

Methods of Measuring Individual Differences 

When considering psychological factors, individuals are usually 
measured from a central tendency or norm. But they are 
measured by means of some test. When a measure of general 
native ability is desired, some form of intelligence or mental 
alertness test is employed. When a specific native ability is to 
be measured the appropriate vocational guidance or aptitude 
test is employed, and in some cases an interest analysis blank is 
also used. When a measure of training along some line is 
desired, the appropriate trade or educational test is used. The 
better the aptitude test is, the more it measures ability in the one 
trait under study and the less it is affected by ability in other 
lines. Similarly, the better the trade or educational test, the 
more it measures specific training as expressed in doing a certain 
performance and the less it is affected by general ability. 

Certain general applications naturally follow: — ■ 

Application to Some Educational Problems 

Learning has been reduced to making connections — forming 
new bonds. And teaching consequently becomes the art and 
science whereby proper situations are presented so that children 
will react as desired. In so reacting new bonds are constantly 
being formed and old bonds as constantly being strengthened 
through use. 

The problem of individual differences is a very big problem in 
the educational world and must be taken into consideration in 
teaching and administrative work. Children differ very mate- 
rially. Such differences are caused jointly by heredity and by 
training. The differences in training can to a large degree be 
taken care of through putting those with extra training ahead of 
those with less training. But the differences due to hereditj^ 
cannot be disposed of so easily. Superiority in heredity means 
that the child is going to advance rapidly; inferiority in heredity 
means that the child is going to advance slowly. This is shown 



30 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 19 TO 20 231 

diagrammatically in Plate XV. It means that any class 
always tends to fly apart. The more training a group has, the 
more the children are going to become unlike. Training does 
not make people alike, it makes them unlike. The bright child, 
gets all of his lesson, the dull child but half. The next day the 
bright child gets all of the new lesson; the dull child cannot do as 
well as he did before, because part of the new lesson depends on 
that part of the first lesson he didn't get. He consequently gets 
less than half of the second lesson. So as time continues the 
gap between the two widens. 

As things are conducted today, average children are fairly 
well taken care of. The pace set is too slow for the bright 
children and too fast for the dull children. The bright children 
are not encouraged to work hard. They can easily get their 
lessons in a few minutes ''any old time." The dull are discour- 
aged for they can't possibly keep pace. What is needed today 
is a system so elastic that all can keep working at their own pace. 
Some advocate here that the pace be set for the dull child and 
the better children be persuaded to do more work on the side 
and in a better manner. The dull child will then get the sheer 
essentials, the others a richer and richer course depending on 
their ability. But how is such a course to be conducted ? Others 
advocate various schemes for rapid or slow promotion depending 
on the different children. 

With the use of an intelligence test the innate mental alertness 
of each child can be determined. Such results are being used to 
solve this problem of properly grading children. In this way 
children of the same intelligence are put together. Such a plan 
is easily workable in a large city school system where there are 
several sections in each grade anyway. It is not so easily applied 
to small school systems. 

Another problem is immediately brought to the fore as soon as 
such a classification of pupils on the basis of intelligence is accom- 
pHshed. Shall the bright pupils be allowed to finish the grammar 
school in considerably less time than average children? Many 
have advocated this. Others have advocated an enriched cur- 
riculum for the brighter children so that they will spend the 
same time in each grade that average children spend, but cover 
much more ground. The best argument in favor of the latter 
program is that bright children may be superior to average chil- 



232 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

dren in intelligence, yet many of them are no more advanced than 
the average child in emotional development. And the child's 
best social development comes from having him with those of 
the same emotional development. If high schools and colleges 
should sometime be organized to take care of highly intelligent 
but socially immature pupils, then it might be wise to force 
bright children ahead; but until that time, an enriched curricu- 
lum seems to the writer the best procedure in the handling of 
superior children. 

One teaching device based on the principles covered in this 
test should be considered in this connection. It is embodied in 
the Courtis Standard Practice Tests. These are drill blanks given 
to children in the grades and so arranged that each child can 
progress as fast as he is able, but the whole class is kept busy at 
the same time. The first two tests and the record sheet covering 
these tests are shown in Plates XXXV and XXXVI. On the 
first day every child is given a copy of Lesson 1. Suppose it is a 
4th Grade class. The children are then allowed 6 minutes to 
do the lesson. 1 At the end of the six minutes the papers are 
corrected and each child records his record in his Record Book. 
On the second day, if any child finished the first lesson correctly 
within the six minutes he is not required to do Lesson 1 over 
again but is supplied with Lesson 2 instead. The remainder of 
the class repeat Lesson 1. So it goes throughout the year. It is 
conceivable that after forty-eight days a very bright child would 
have entirely finished all 48 lessons whereas a very dull child 
would still be on the first lesson. Courtis, however, advocates 
that after several failures, individual instruction be given the 
backward child and if that is not sufficient to bring him up, that 
he be allowed to go to the next lesson. In Plate XXXVI are 
shown two individual records on the one sheet. (Ordinarily 
only one record would appear on a page.) N has required 15 
days in which to finish Lesson 1. The solid line traces the 
number of problems he did each day and the broken line the 
number he got correct. M, on the other hand, finished Lesson 
1 in five days and Lesson 2 in two more days. (As there are but 
61 problems in Lesson 2, 61 is of course the standard set in that 
lesson.) His record for Lesson 3 would be scored on another page 

* The other grades are given a shorter time. The 5th grade is allowed 4^ 
min.; the 6th grade 4 min., the 7th grade d}4 min., and the 8th grade 3 min. 



30 



SUMMARY OF LESSONS 19 TO 29 



233 



and so does not appear here. He finished up four lessons while 
M was doing one. 

The point to be noted about this scheme is that it provides a 
method by which the entire class can be put at arithmetical work 



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and at the same time the lessons may be varied in accordance 
with individual differences. Moreover each child plots his own 

1 The latest edition of these practice tests shows Lesson No. 1 as above. 
But Lesson No. 2 now comprises 70 problems instead of 61. The Graph 
Sheet in Plate XXIX is also from an earlier edition of the "Student's Record 
and Practice." (By permission of World Book Company.) 



234 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

learning curves and so knows just how he is advancing day by 
day. He has the stimulation of racing against others and also 
against himself. This whole procedure is typical of a general 
method that can be employed by most teachers. 



Lesson No. 1 
LESSON NO. 



GRAPH SHEET 

FOR 

. 72 examples Lesson No. 2 



. 61 examples 



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TRIALS 















INSTRUCTIONS: After each trial, in the column corresponding to the number of the 
trial, draw a short horizontal line through your score in examples tried. Using a ruler, 
draw a heavy line from this point to the score marked in the previous column. In 
like manner draw a curve for Rights, using a heavy broken line. More than one graph 
can be drawn on this page; see Model, page 4. When you have completed the lesson 
successfully, hand in this record book with jrour paper. 

Plate XXXVI. — Graph sheet. Showing record of two children, M and N. M 
finishes Lesson No. 1 in 5 days and Lesson No. 2 in two days more. N requires 
5 days to complete Lesson No. 1 in the allotted time. 

An entirely different scheme for providing for individual differ- 
ences is utiHzed in this course. Each lesson contains as many 
''leads" as even the best student will have time to follow. 
Every minute devoted to study is sure to add something to 
his training or store of information. At the same time each 



30 SUMMARY OF LESSONS 19 TO 29 235 

lesson is easy enough so that the poorest student, deserving only 
to pass the course, can obtain sufficient grounding in the funda- 
mentals of the course to pass and go on. The better the student, 
the more thorough a grasp of the material will be obtained, but 
all will get a worth while amount. If two or three times as much 
time were devoted to the course, the poorer students would get 
more from the course, but the better students would not be kept 
busy and so would not get the maximum training they have a 
right to receive in return for their tuition and time. 

Realization of what this problem of individual differences 
means gives us a new point of view with regard to the whole 
subject of education. The overlapping of children in the several 
grades is being studied from many angles and ere long a more 
satisfactory solution of this phase of individual differences will 
appear. The old schemes for grading students are doomed and 
new ones based on our further knowledge of how children differ 
are taking their place. Because of better and better understand- 
ing of what each child can do and is best fitted for, there will 
result less antagonism to education and social authority and 
happier children, parents, teachers and supervisors. 

Not only are the problems of education viewed in a new way 
but also all social problems. The handling of criminals, of 
paupers, of incompetent workers, of insane, of all exceptional 
individuals, has become a different proposition. Changes in 
our penal institutions, the rise of Juvenile Courts, of indeter- 
minate sentences, of parole from penitentiaries, the interest in 
eugenics, in scientific vocational guidance, in personnel work, etc., 
are all related to each other — all manifestations of the view that 
individuals are not all alike nor can they be divided into sharply 
contrasting types, but that all are merely variations of greater or 
less degree from the average. 

The student who has not simply learned about these things 
but has formed the habit of analyzing educational problems into 
situations and responses has gained something which will help 
him in all his work. As an aid in making such analyses this 
course has been devised so as to develop habits of solving prob- 
lems by asking these questions: 

1. What specifically is my problem? — ^the problem. 

2. How may I study this problem? — the procedure. 



236 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

3. What are my facts? — the results. 

4. What do the facts mean? — the interpretation. 

5. How can I use the deductions? — the appHcations. 
Whether a student has got these things from the course or 

not eventually comes down to whether he has the ability to 
acquire such complicated conceptions (bonds) and has had the 
industry to develop them. 



1 

1 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY 

BOOK TWO 

LESSON 31 
WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES^ 

In Lesson 1 a great many questions were asked beginning with 
the word ''Why" : for example, ''Why did Sam and Mabel enjoy 
being together? Why did Mabel get mad at Sam?" But no 
attempt was made to answer these; instead, we considered the 
**how" of the mental phenomena indicated by them. By now, 
having gained a fair comprehension of how individuals learn 
and how they differ, we may with some profit attack these " why" 
questions. To do so brings up for discussion the subject of 
motives. Why does one do this and not that? 

The lessons that follow will, in general, consider first, why man 
acts as he does, and second, how one may get another to do what 
one desires him to do. 

Wants 

Why does an apple fall to the ground? "The law of gravita- 
tion," we answer. And by that we mean that matter attracts 
matter. Why does matter attract matter? No one knows the 
answer to that. As far as we know, it just does. Why does light 
travel at the rate of 186,000 miles a second? We know it does, 
but we don't know why. Science has been able to answer thou- 
sands of questions commencing with "what" and "how" but 
can answer very few questions commencing with "why." And 
if a second "why" is asked regarding the answers given by science 
to the first "why," the reply can only be, "It just is that way." 

The same situation holds true in psychology as in all other 
sciences. The why of behavior can be traced back one or two 
steps, and then it stops. But it will be observed that the final 
answer always includes the verb "want" or its equivalent. 

1 What is presented in this lesson need not be fully understood just now. 
But it is the. key to the lessons following. Comprehension of it will aid in 
grasping them, and as they are absorbed, this chapter will in turn become 
more and more intelligible. 

1 



2 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

When a small child is asked why he does this and not that, he 
replies, "1 want to." To the child that is final; and it is final. 
The woman's *' because ' ' is the same sort of answer. She does this, 
or asks for that, because she wants to act in this way, or to get 
that thing. When a reason is given under such circumstances, 
the individual, as we shall come to see, is endeavoring to cover up 
his real motive or to justify his action to himself and to other 
individuals. Consequently, whenever a reason is given we may 
be sure we have not reached the bottom of the matter: We can 
always ask another ''Why." 

To understand the why of human behavior is, then, the prob- 
lem of comprehending what are the wants of man. We shall 
not be able to go behind them ; all that is possible is to know that 
they exist and that they determine behavior. What these wants 
are will be revealed in later lessons, where it will be shown that 
they are expressions of the needs of the body and of our native 
behavior — our reflexes, instincts and emotions. 

Wants are Fundamental to Behavior. — ''The starting-point of 
all human activity is the existence of wants. To satisfy hun- 
ger and thirst, to secure shelter, and to provide clothing were the 
chief aims of primitive man, and constitute even today the motor 
forces of all society. As man develops, his wants grow in number 
and refinement. However civilized he becomes, his material 
welfare forms the basis on which the whole larger life is erected. 
To secure the means of satisfying wants brings into play the 
economic activity of man. The process may be expressed in 
the words wants, efforts, satisfactions. We start out with the 
existence of wants, we desire to secure their satisfaction, we can 
ordinarily accomplish this only through some effort. The econ- 
omic life of man is concerned with such efforts and their results."^ 
So begins a standard text-book in economics. 

Wants are the starting-point in explaining behavior; they are 
the keys to an understanding of human beings. It is with these 
that an educator must commence. 

Wants Must be Controlled. — But although wants are the 
natural causes of action, it is undesirable that they should continue 
to control behavior throughout life. Too often they lead to 
injury and even death. Just because this is true, society has 
erected all kinds of safeguards to prevent the child, and even the 

^ E. R. A. Seligman, Principles of Economics, 1908, p. 4f. 



31 WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES 3 

adult, from acting in terms of his wants. Legally, a child may 
not buy anything, for he is prone to spend his money foolishly. 
Lotteries, gambling, and drink are stimuli that society has deemed 
best to remove from man, for although he would like to respond 
to them, no real need would be supplied by such response. 
Truly, much has thus been accomplished by legislation in modi- 
fying man's environment, by taking away certain stimuli and 
adding others. But the most thoroughgoing way to protect 
man against his wants is through education: through modifying 
and redirecting his wants. In this way he is taught to stop, 
before acting in terms of a mere want, and to think out the 
consequences. Before letting himself suffer from a stomach- 
ache, for example, he may decide that the fun of eating green 
apples will not be worth while. 

Wants Must be Understood. — If wants are the chief causes of 
behavior, and if frequently they are unsafe guides in life, then 
those who would train others ought to understand the nature of 
wants and how they may be modified and controlled. 

The remainder of this lesson will be devoted to the general 
characteristics of wants and some of their relations to behavior 
in general. In subsequent lessons details of many of man's 
wants will be considered. 

Chakacteristics of Wants 
As Distinguished from Needs. — A want^ may be distinguished 
from a need in that a want is an expression of dissatisfaction, 
whereas need refers to that which is required for the best interests 
of the organism. Thus something good to eat is wanted, but 
nourishment is needed. Wants and needs are practically identical 
in many cases, but not in all. So the child wants to eat, and 
that is needful; he wants to play rather than to go to bed, and 

^ The word "want" is not entirely satisfactory in this connection. If its 
customary use were restricted to the colloquialism of "I want" it would be 
adequate. But unfortunately it does convey other meanings. The term 
"urge" conveys the idea of force or impulse, but not sufficiently the idea 
of desire. "Wish," on the other hand, emphasizes desire, particularly 
intellectually conceived desire, but implies, as also does "longing," a present 
inability to act as desired. "Want" as used here implies desire plus impulse 
to act in accordance with the desire so that existing dissatisfaction will be 
changed to satisfaction. Furthermore, "want" is not used here as synony- 
mous with "need," which is conceived as referring to that which is necessary 
on other grounds than the mere elimination of dissatisfaction. 



4 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

that is the opposite of what he needs; and again he does not want 
castor-oil when sick, but he needs it. In behaving in terms of a 
want, one is seeking to escape dissatisfaction and to obtain satis- 
faction right now; in behaving in terms of a need, one is taking 
into account the effects which will result in the future. An 
acquaintance likes strawberries very much, but they always make 
her sick. If she eats them, she satisfies a want; if she does not 
eat them, she supplies a need. So also, a business man may not 
want to take exercise, but he may need it in order to be in good 
health ten years later. He may satisfy his want and not supply 
his need, or vice versa; better still, he may satisfy both by devel- 
oping some hobby, such as golf, which will give him both pleasure 
and exercise. 

A few further illustrations may make this clearer. We need 
to breathe air, because if we do not we shall die within a very few 
minutes. Ordinarily there is no conscious want here, because 
before the want becomes strong enough to be conscious we satisfy 
it by taking the next breath. But when the breath is held, then 
the want is experienced consciously. Needs may consequently 
be viewed (1) as constant factors, or practically so, and (2) as 
either (a) consciously known or (b) unknown. Thus, a man is 
conscious of his need of nourishment, while a baby needs nourish- 
ment but is not conscious of his need. In the baby's case, when 
the need becomes great the baby is dissatisfied, and cries and 
struggles. Again, a person with malarial fever needs quinine, 
but usually he is unconscious of this need. It is brought to his 
attention by a physician, who knows the need in such a disease. 
Wants, on the other hand, are not constant factors, but con- 
stantly fluctuate. They, like needs, are either consciously known 
or unknown. In breathing there is a pendular swing back and 
forth from satisfaction (no want) to slight unconscious dissatis- 
faction (slight want) ; in the matter of eating in the case of adults, 
there is a swing from satisfaction after a meal to conscious want 
of food. If one ate but once a day there would be a back-and- 
forth swing but once a day, instead of three times, but the swing 
would be greater, i. e., from zero to extreme dissatisfaction. The 
same conception can be applied more or less to all man's wants. 
For example, the want of shoes fluctuates from unconscious want 
to conscious want. 

To repeat: The intensity of a want fluctuates from zero to 



31 WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES 5 

strong conscious dissatisfaction. Furthermore, until a want 
reaches a certain intensity it is below the threshold and is uncon- 
scious. The quality of the want also may change. It may be 
a vague, restless dissatisfaction or it may be a specific desire for 
something. A "hunch" may be viewed as half-way between 
dissatisfaction without knowing why and dissatisfaction focused 
on some specific cause. The need, on the other hand, is an 
expression of the best interests of the individual. Natively, it 
finds expression in a want; for example, when food is needed a 
want is experienced. Through experience, needs become intel- 
lectually known and are then expressed in terms of reasoned-out 
statements. 

A Want is an Expression of Dissatisfaction or Lack of Satis- 
faction. — The dissatisfaction is due to the presence of some stimu- 
lus which causes a dissatisfying response. So a pin-prick, the 
charge of a bellowing bull, or the lesson only half-finished at 
midnight, cause pain, fear, or fatigue, as the case may be, which 
are all dissatisfying and from which one tends to escape. On the 
other hand the want may arise because some stimulus is absent 
which would lead to a satisfactory response. Examples are 
lack of food when hungry; lack of opportunity to sleep when 
tired, lack of opportunity to move about (as in school), when 
ready to move. When man wants, he is experiencing a stimulus 
that is causing a dissatisfying response, or is not experiencing a 
stimulus that would cause a satisfying response. 

Because wants are not constant, but fluctuating, we have the 
phenomenon that a given stimulus may produce satisfaction at 
one time and dissatisfaction at another time. The triangular 
relation between want and stimulus and the result in satisfaction 
or dissatisfaction is generally called readiness, meaning that a 
system of bonds is or is not ready to react. We have already seen 
how the system of bonds representing the want to breathe or eat 
may be aroused to readiness. Four combinations are possible : — 

1. Want is ready Stimulus present and response Satisfaction 

follows 

2. Want is ready Stimulus not present or response Dissatisfaction 

prevented 

3. Want not ready Stimulus present and response Dissatisfaction 

forced 

4. Want not ready Stimulus not present or response Satisfaction 

not forced 



6 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The dissatisfaction in (2) is different from that in (3). In (2) 
we have really a lack of satisfaction. This is essentially a vague, 
general restlessness, or irritability. Often the individual has no 
idea as to the cause of his trouble. Wanderlust is one name for 
this sort of dissatisfaction, due commonly to the non-functioning 
of the sex instinct. Similarly, one often sees a person become 
more and more irritable without his knowing why, when all 
that is the matter is that, due to an emergency, he has forgotten 
his lunch. Much of the unrest of the world to-day is due to the 
inability of men and women to act as their instinctive natures 
urge. This fact has become so plain lately that it does not take 
a psychologist to prophesy that profound changes in our social 
and industrial organization must be accomplished if individuals 
are not to be deprived of many of the satisfactions that come 
through the proper functioning of their instincts. 

The dissatisfaction in (3) on the other hand, is specific and 
directed at the stimulus or the person that is forcing action. So 
when the mother asks an unwilling daughter to wash the dishes 
or an unwilling son to tend the furnace, the dissatisfaction focuses 
upon the mother and on the dish-washing or the furnace, as the 
case may be. 

The equation in (4) is probably only another way of expressing 
(1). A man who is tired and has seated himself in a Morris- 
chair with cigar and newspaper for a quiet evening, and then 
hears his wife discussing the need of buying coffee for breakfast 
and asking her son to go out for it, feels satisfaction at not being 
forced to go. But his satisfaction probably arises from being 
permitted to do what he wants to do, i. e., rest, smoke, and read, 
and also from being able to escape the dissatisfaction of being 
forced to do what he does not want to do (Case 3). 

The law of effect (discussed in Lesson 15) is undoubtedly 
related to satisfaction and dissatisfaction, as discussed here. In 
learning, one keeps on until he secures satisfaction and escapes 
from dissatisfaction. And in some way those efforts which 
bring satisfaction are retained better than other repetitions 
leading to dissatisfaction. 

A Want is Essentially a Tendency to Make a Certain Response. 
Popularly we say, ''I want some water," and ''I want a bath- 
ing suit." We view the object as the want. This is partly 
true. The object must be present in order to satisfy the want. 



31 WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES 7 

But the object is only a means to an end. What is really wanted 
is the elimination of thirst or the enjoyment that comes from 
being in the lake. The object is wanted only so long as the want 
exists. After drinking one does not want water; in the winter 
time one does not want a bathing suit. It is not easy to accept 
this conception just because all our lives we have been concen- 
trating on getting things and have not considered the real want 
that lies back of the interest of the object. Observation of 
oneself and others will, however, convince one sooner or later 
that this is true. 

A Want Represents Stirred -up Energy. — Any living organism 
contains a large amount of stored-up (potential) energy. A 
stimulus causes some of this potential energy to be converted into 
kinetic (stirred-up) energy, which constitutes the nervous current 
and causes the muscular response. In the case of reflex action 
the response normally follows immediately after the stimulus 
is experienced. But in some cases the response is inhibited, as 
in the case of not coughing in church, holding onto a hot test-tube 
in chemistry laboratory, not hitting at a mosquito when stalking 
a deer. Inhibiting these reflex responses results in accumulating 
more and more energy to force the reflex response. And as we 
all know, despite our best efforts, we often finally have to cough 
or drop the test-tube. The term want can hardly be applied 
to reflex action when the response immediately follows. But 
it can truly be applied to those cases where reflex action is inhib- 
ited. In the examples above, one wants to cough and one wants 
not to, due to the arousal of two different mental sets. Which- 
ever set calls forth the greater amount of energy wins. A want 
is then symptomatic of stirred-up energy. 

The case of habitual action is similar to that of reflex action. 
The stimulus sets off the action, with no particular want present. 
But if the action is interfered with, more energy is released and a 
want to perform the action appears. This is the underlying 
explanation of Tom Sawyer's success in getting the other boys 
to whitewash his fence. So also, when the teacher asks for the 
capitals of the three Pacific Coast States, those children who 
start to answer and may not because they are not called on, 
immediately want still more to answer, and wave their arms more 
and more violently. 

The fact that a want represents stirred-up energy isbest illus- 



8 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

trated in the case of instinctive behavior. The shrieks of a baby 
cause its mother to start running instantly. Here the parental 
instinct is aroused and a large amount of potential energy is 
transformed into kinetic. In addition, the emotional mechanism 
(to be discussed later) is aroused and in a few seconds, the whole 
organism is surcharged with stirred-up energy. One may not 
be conscious of the stirred-up state if a large amount of physical 
activity follows, but if the whole situation is cleared up suddenly, 
then one is conscious of the wave after wave of emotional excite- 
ment that sweeps over him. 

When an individual wants then, there is stirred-up energy 
tending to work itself out in action. And the stronger the want, 
the more kinetic energy is present. This energy enables the 
individual to exert himself to a degree not possible when he is 
''cool," and to continue doing so for a surprisingly long time. 
Consider what soldiers accomplished under fire and what a 
mother does in tending a sick child! This excess energy often 
forces an individual to act in obedience to his wants rather than 
to his better judgment. And finally this excess energy causes 
random movements, so that if one response proves not effective, 
others are tried in rapid succession. Herein lies the starting- 
point of many acquired habits. 

A Want is Accompanied by Interest. — A response in some cases 
is interesting, as in eating or in sheer enjoyment of activity. 
But what is interesting is not the response, but the stimulus to 
which one is responding. In putting out a fire in a bedroom, 
one is interested in the fire and in the objects about it; one is not 
even conscious of much that one is doing and later cannot explain 
how he did certain things. Clearly, objects, people, and subject- 
matter are or are not interesting to us according as they do or 
do not serve as stimuli which make possible those responses we 
want to make. Interest is an expression of a want. 

Want \ 

c, /Bond-Response 

Stimulus/ 

So far the formula ''Situation-Bond-Response" has served 
us very well. The term situation has included both the stimulus 
that is affecting the individual and the sum total of what is 
mentally present at that moment. From now on, it will be neces- 
sary to distinguish the want, or wants, that are present, from 



31 WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES 9 

the other elements in the total situation. And it will also be 
necessary to distinguish between the external stimulus and the 
inner elements that are brought to mind by the stimulus or were 
present when the stimulus was encountered. These latter inner 
elements may be referred to by the term ''experience," instead 
of ''bond/' if it be borne in mind that the term does not refer 
to all past experiences, but only to those that have been aroused 
and are active at the moment. Let us now see what this formula 
means. Four combinations are possible: — 

1. Want absent Stimulus responded to 

2. Want present Stimulus responded to 

3. Want absent Stimulus not responded to 

4. Want present Stimulus not present but sought for 

1. Want Absent — Stimulus Responded To. — If the stimulus 
is strong enough, or of a certain sort, it will force a response 
regardless of the other elements. So a sudden pain, or a loud 
noise, "breaks in" upon whatever we are doing, and we respond 
by getting away from the pain-producing object or by jumping 
at the noise. Such stimuli are distractions; they usually set off 
some sort of reflex action; they cause what is technically known 
as involuntary attention, i. e., we attend, whether we want to or 
not. 

In the above cases, we get the feeling of having had an outside 
stimulus force its way in and interfere with what we wanted to do. 
There are, on the other hand, other examples of stimuli which are 
reacted to when no particular want is present, where the feeling 
of being forced is absent, or almost absent. For example, while 
traveling in a train we read the sign-boards as seen from the 
windows. Responses to these advertisements are due to our 
habit of reading. So thoroughly has the habit been established 
that it operates if stimuli are encountered and if not interfered 
with by any want that is dominating mental activity. Though 
we do respond in this way to many stimuli which do not fit into 
our wants, it will be observed that little or no impression is 
made upon the brain. Desultory looking or reading is most 
inefficient. 

2. Want Present — Stimulus Responded To. — If a stimulus is 
present that will lead to a response which satisfies the want, the 
stimulus is noticed with interest and responded to. (This case 



10 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

is spoken of as spontaneous attention.) A boy with a hobby for 
collecting stamps sees stamps wherever he goes; a mother hears 
the cries of her child when no one else does; a hungry child can 
smell doughnuts a surprising distance away. Of course, in such 
cases one notices the stimulus because of habits that have been 
developed to do so. But these habits were developed because 
of a want. If the want dies out the person will cease noticing to 
a considerable extent, but not entirely, because the habit will 
continue to function somewhat. For convenience, stimuli that 
satisfy wants will be called prepotent stimuli. 

3. Want Absent — Stimulus Not Responded To. — If the stimu- 
lus is not strong enough to force a response (as in 1) and there is 
no want present which will be satisfied through a response to the 
stimulus, the stimulus will ordinarily be ignored. For example, 
if Smith is planning to debate a certain question, everything that 
concerns the topic ''jumps right at him" wherever he is (example 
of 2), but he would never notice these items if he did not want to 
discuss the question. A bird-lover sees and hears every bird in 
the woods; the average man does neither, for he does not want to, 
to begin with, and second, he cannot see nor hear much because he 
has not trained himself to do so. In terms of our formula, there 
is no response because (1) the stimulus of a bird's chirp is not 
strong enough to force a respohse, (2) there is no want to respond 
to it, and (3) there is no past experience (bond) that connects the 
chirp with a response of any sort. 

In everyday life we ignore nearly all stimuli that do not force 
themselves upon us or do not tend to satisfy the wants that are 
present. In other words, we do not observe what we are not 
interested in. This statement is difficult to believe at first. It 
is so because we have no idea at all of what we have ignored. 
The best way to get some comprehension of what you, the 
reader, are missing, is to go around with a variety of experts and 
ascertain what they see and hear which you would not notice. 
In the schoolroom the teacher is constantly forcing certain 
stimuli upon the child and making him respond to them; but, 
as we have already seen, unless there is a want to learn, on the 
part of the pupil, very little results from these efforts of the 
teacher. 

4. Want Present — Stimulus Not Present but Sought For. — 
If there is a want and there are not stimuli present to satisfy 



31 WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES 11 

the want, then the organism becomes more and more restless and 
uneasy and finally commences to move about and hunt for an 
appropriate prepotent stimulus. This we see clearly illustrated 
in the case of hunger or thirst (want to eat or drink). As these 
wants increase in strength, the person first becomes restless 
without knowing what is wrong, then gets up and hunts for food 
or water. As food or drink is always found quite easily in civil- 
ized life today, we have no opportunity to witness or experience 
the extreme struggles that the organism will make to secure 
satisfaction of these wants before final exhaustion intervenes. 
But anyone can experiment with the want for air to breathe. 
Hold your nose and keep the mouth shut. For a few seconds 
all is well. But the want increases, and finally it dominates every 
other activity, and you open your mouth and let go your nose. 
Then you are conscious of the sweet satisfaction of responding 
to a prepotent stimulus. 

A word should be added at this point about our "bond" 
component in the formula. Through learning, new bonds are 
formed. Consequently a stimulus that originally caused crying 
may later cause us to get up, go to the bathroom, and put iodine 
on a scratched finger. Or the olive, to which our original 
response was to spit it out of the mouth, is now eagerly sought 
for and eaten. Or, the activity of shouting louder than the other 
boys and girls in order to get attention may in time be eliminated 
and in its place may develop a great interest in winning Phi 
Beta Kappa. 

Relation of Formula to the Three Factors : Heredity, Environ- 
ment, and Training. — Roughly speaking, the three factors 
heredity, environment, and training are typified in the formula 
by the elements want, stimulus, and bond. Our wants and the 
mechanisms by which they are to be satisfied constitute in a gen- 
eral way the effect of heredity, the stimuli that are encountered 
make up the environment, and our experiences (acquired bonds) 
are of course the effect of training. If our wants are few or 
feeble, we shall make little exertion and so not amount to much. 
If our environment does not contain the stimuli needed to satisfy 
our wants, then we shall be badly handicapped; for example, 
growing up in a neighborhood where good schools are not avail- 
able prevents the wants from being satisfied in terms of wider and 
wider experiences. And if broad experience is not developed, 



12 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

due to the interaction of wants and stimuli, the individual acts 
largely in terms of immediate satisfactions instead of future 
satisfactions. 

Relation of Formula to the Process of Reasoning. — In Lessons 
38 and 39, where the problem of how one solves difficulties is 
considered, we shall see that difficulties are solved because 
of some want, because of the presence of some dissatisfying 
condition, or because of the lack of some satisfaction. Thus the 
child gets his lesson because, until he does, he lacks the satisfac- 
tion that comes with approval; or he hits on a short-cut in order 
to decrease the dissatisfaction of doing what he does not want to 
do. Let us recognize very clearly that the cause of solving a 
difficulty — indeed, the cause of the difficulty's being a difficulty — 
lies primarily within the individual, so that the cause must be 
expressed in terms of his wants. Dewey's^ figure of a forked 
road has been misinterpreted. Unless one wants to go some- 
where in particular, the forked road is not a difficulty; either fork 
will do for a pleasure ride. The first stage in solving a difficulty 
is always within the individual: it can be expressed as some lack 
of a satisfaction or as some dissatisfaction. He wants food or 
wants to escape the cold. With such a want present, he starts 
out to find a stimulus which will bring about a satisfactory 
response, i. e., food that he can eat, or a fire, clothing, a warm 
room, bedclothes, or what not, which will bring him warmth. 

1 J. Dewey, How We Think, 1910. 



LESSON 32 

WHY ONE BEHAVES AS HE DOES (continued) 

• In this lesson we shall attempt a more detailed analysis of some 
of the facts and principles enunciated in the preceding lesson. 

Why does a person behave as he does? Why does a person 
respond to this stimulus and ignore that one? 

Problem : Why does an individual behave as he does? 

Procedure: Part 1. — Answer the following questions: — 

1. Why do you attempt to solve this assignment? (After 
writing the answer to this question, ask the question: Why is 
this answer an explanation of why I attempt to solve this assign- 
ment? Record your answer and again test the answer with 
another ''why." Keep on asking ''why" until you are sure you 
have traced back the explanation of why you do this assignment 
to statements that are final and irreducible, i. e., cannot be ex- 
plained in terms of anything else.) 

2. Why didn't you give these final irreducible statements right 
off at the start? (Is it because they are too personal, or not very 
complimentary to yourself, or is it because of other reasons?) 

Part 2. Give as good an answer as you can to the following 
questions from Lesson 1, dealing with Dr. Linder and Cargill. 
(Test out each question by asking "why" to it, to make sure you 
have reduced your explanation to final, irreducible statements.) 

1. Why should a crowd become angry because a dog had been 
killed? 

2. Would Cargill if he had been alone, have become as angry 
as he did when surrounded by a crowd? 

3. Why did the crowd think Dr. Linder had a gun? 

4. Why did Cargill want the Doctor arrested? 

Part 3. Arrange the following items in the order in which you, 
yourself, would prefer to do them. Consider here not what you 
ought to do but what you would like to do. 

13 



14 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

a) To look at a sunset 

h) To eat turkey when hungry 

c) To cry when you stub your toe good and hard 

d) To comb your hair in the morning 

e) To go to college (or normal school, as the case may be). 
(/) To teach school 

g) To hunt partridges 

h) To go to church 

i) To escape from an infuriated bull 

j) To watch two boys, evenly matched, fighting 

k) To play with a baby 

T) To go to a football game 

m) To play tennis 

n) To be in a crowd 

o) To do this assignment 

p) To get up in the morning 

q) To have people show their approval of your actions 

r) To be the recipient of attentions from one of the opposite 

sex to whom you are attracted 
s) To black your shoes 

t) To keep your bureau drawer in a tidy condition 
u) To wear good clothes 

v) To advertise a twenty-dollar bill you have found 
w) To have people looking at you in a scornful manner 
x) To stay at home and take care of a sick aunt instead of 

going to a party 
(y) To secure a better grade in an examination than another 

person whom you dislike. 

Compare your order with that of your partner. What deduc- 
tions can you make as to what you naturally like to do and natur- 
ally do not like to do ? For example, is there any relation between 
your order of preferences and an order which might be made 
showing what an ape does and does not do? 

Part 4. Summarize and list all the wants encountered in this 
lesson which you believe are irreducible explanations of why 
a person behaves as he does. 

Part 5. — Are the ''irreducible statements" obtained in Parts 
1 and 2 "wants or ''needs" or both? (Refer to Lesson 31 for 
explanation of these terms.) 



LESSON 33 
FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 

In attempting to answer the questions in Lesson 32 we obtain 
two kinds of answers. In one kind, a reason is expressed; in 
the other kind no reason is given, but the verb ''want" appears. 
For example, in answer to the question ''Why do you attempt 
to solve this assignment?" one may give the reply "Because 
it has to be done to pass the course." When asked, "Why do 
you want to pass the course?" another reason may be given, to 
the effect, perhaps, that it is required for a degree or a certificate. 
Again a "why" may be asked. And so it may continue until 
one is replying that he wants to eat, to keep warm, to sleep, to 
be independent, and to be looked up to with respBct, etc. The 
"why" for working out the assignment is finally expressed in 
terms of fundamental wants. 

These fundamental wants represent innate modes of behavior 
that have not been learned. The reasons represent learned modes 
of behavior. "I want to eat when hungry" — that is native. 
But the "want to eat oysters" is acquired; that is, the specific 
taste for oysters is acquired. So when you ask why I want to 
eat oysters, I can explain my desire by saying, "I want to eat." 
But I cannot explain the want to eat. (The need of eating can, 
of course, be explained in terms of preservation of life, but we 
must sharply distinguish here between wanting a thing because 
it is satisfying and needing it because it is essential. 

Fundamental Characteristics of Living Organisms 

Protoplasm has five principal characteristics: (1) sensitivity, 
(2) conduction, (3) movement, (4) nutrition, and (5) reproduction. 
Stimuli irritate all forms of life; this irritability is conducted to 
other parts of the organism; and the organism moves towards or 
away from the stimulating object. It "eats" certain of these 
objects, thereby growing new tissue or replacing worn-out tissue. 
The crucial test of living material is reproduction. In man, these 

15 



16 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

five characteristics are to a large extent differentiated, so that 
sensitivity is restricted primarily to the sense-organs, conduction 
to the nervous system, movement to the muscles, nutrition to the 
digestive system, and reproduction to the sex organs. With 
specialization most of the cells in the body have given up their 
five characteristics; but some, like the white corpuscles, have 
remained similar to the unicellular form. Moreover, stimula- 
tion of any part tends to affect the entire organism; activity of 
the nervous system similarly tends to affect every part; any move- 
ment tends to have the same effect; the same is true of nutrition 
and reproduction. 

We may postulate a sixth characteristic about human beings 
and possibly about some animals. That is consciousness. I 
know that I am conscious. I infer that my friends are also 
conscious. With less certainty I infer that my dog and cat have 
some sort of consciousness. But there is no way of proving these 
inferences. 

It is the physiologist, not the psychologist, who is interested 
in the five fundamental characteristics of protoplasm, as such. 
The psychologist is interested in combinations of the first three — 
sensitivity, conduction, and movement in which consciousness 
is more or less involved. Hence the formula situation, bond, 
response, emphasizing movement because of stimulated sense- 
organs. Such combinations make up behavior. 

The wants of man come, however, very largely from these six 
characteristics. Very fundamentally, man wants stimuli to 
be affecting him; he wants mental activity (conduction) although 
he is often satisfied with far less than a teacher desires ; he wants 
to move about, be active at times; he wants to eat; and he wants 
to mate. Furthermore, he wants these as conscious processes. 
One does not want music played while he is unconscious; nor to 
talk nor walk in his sleep; nor to have food fed to him while he is 
under the effect of drugs. Man's wants all find expression in 
conscious activity. 

Let us turn, now, and consider more specifically what are the 
wants that man desires to have satisfied. Answering this ques- 
tion takes us into a field of psychology in which much has been 
written but in which very little is known in a scientific sense. 
Consequently, what is recorded here is very largely the opinion 
of authorities in this field ; how much of it is truly correct remains 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 17 

for future investigators to determine. But the topic is probably 
the most important one in psychology, and therefore the best 
information that is available must be used until better informa- 
tion is at hand.^ 

Man's Fundamental Individual Wants 

1. Sensory Impressions. — Man wants to have stimulation 
coming in steadily through his sense-organs. If he is not looking 
at something, he must be listening, or smelling, or tasting, or 
feehng; otherwise he will grow restless and dissatisfied. So 
colors, moving objects, music, rhythm, and objects touching the 
skin are desired. (Certain stimulations are not desired, such as 
excessive heat or cold, or pain, or bugs crawling on the skin, etc.) 
He has also certain sense-organs within his body that are con- 
cerned with orientation, movement of the muscles, and visceral 
activities. As a child, at least, he enjoys being slightly dizzy, 
swinging, etc. Conscious sensations from the viscera all seem to 
be unpleasant. It is worth noting however, that general well- 
being, buoyancy, or ''pep" is probably the resultant of normal 
activity of these visceral sense-organs as they report to the brain. 
Much of the enjoyment of riding in an automobile, dancing, 

1 An instinct, technically speaking, should be viewed as a specific mode of 
behavior, due to an innate bond connecting sense-organ with muscle. 
Apparently, all such are so relatively simple that some have been tempted to 
deny the existence of instincts as distinct from reflexes; in other words, to 
reduce the expression "eating instinct" to many reflexes, such as "suckling," 
"swallowing," "licking the lips," "spitting out," etc. Inasmuch as man 
must group items into larger wholes for convenience in thinking, it seems 
worth while to keep the term "instinct," even though further experimenta- 
tion should finally prove that there are no instincts in a strict sense, but only 
reflexes that sometimes do and sometimes do not operate in functionally 
larger units. There are apparently other types of native behavior which are 
hardly to be explained in terms of the existence of an innate bond. Such 
is the case of resistance to interference; this mode of behavior in its native 
aspect is due to the discharge of more and more energy as resistance is 
encountered. 

The term "want" is employed here because the writer believes it to be a 
concept that students can more quickly come to use than "instinct." To 
the writer a want expresses fundamentally a lack of chemical equilibrium. 
The want to breathe, to eat, to mate and to resist, are due to chemical 
changes. Possibly when more is known about internal glands, etc., the 
want to lead or to be submissive may similarly be expressed. 
2 



18 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

swimming, etc., is due to the satisfaction of receiving a steady 
stream of sensory impressions. 

Man further wants variety and change in his sensory stimula- 
tion. Constant repetition is nearly always annoying. Moving 
objects and changing sounds are consequently much more satis- 
fying than others. To certain changes in stimulation, such as a 
loud noise or a moving object, man has reflexes whereby he 
jumps in the first case and turns to look in the second. 

2. Curiosity. — Man wants not only a steady stream of incom- 
ing sensations, but also a certain amount of mental activity 
going on, whereby these incoming sensations are elaborated into 
various combinations. This is hardly a conscious want, but is 
manifested in the constant shifting of attention from this to 
that. What is meant by curiosity seems to the writer to be a 
phase of this necessity for shifting, wherein the individual 
becomes quite conscious that he. has shifted to something that is 
holding him in an unusual way. And this something that arouses 
curiosity is a new combination of old familiar things. McDougall 
expresses the same idea when he says that the situation which 
arouses curiosity ''would seem to be any object similar to, yet 
perceptibly different from, familiar objects habitually noticed."^ 
To a new thing we have no response; so we ignore it. To an old 
familiar thing we have such a well-formed response that we hardly 
note that we are responding at all. But in the case of an object 
which arouses old responses in a new combination we tend to 
respond freely to the parts, and at the same time slowly and hesi- 
tantly to the new combination. (See Lesson 15 for illustrations 
and applications to teaching.) 

The term ''visual exploration" refers to the continual shifting 
of the eyes from one point to another, thus producing a continual 
shifting of conscious impressions. Curiosity is a special phase 
of this more general want of man. Out of these simple processes 
arise the more intellectual wants — to combine ideas together in 
day-dreams or to explain what is being experienced in terms of 
what has been experienced. The highest activities of man's 
mind, such as inventing and scientific thinking are developments 
of these simpler wants. 

3. Activity. — Not only does man want activity of sense-organs, 
and of the central nervous system involved in elaborating 

1 W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1908, p. 60. 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 19 

incoming impressions into objects (percepts), ideas, and causal 
relations; but he wants also to be constantly moving, i. e., 
responding to situations. Apparently far more energy is gener- 
ated than is needed, particularly in youth, and this energy has 
to be used up. Hence, activity, exercise, play, operation of the 
vocal cords, etc., are desired. For a child, to be compelled to be 
quiet is punishment, and indeed it is an impossibility except for 
brief periods of time. Smoking, chewing, knitting, whistling, 
talking, etc., are ways in which adults use up this energy. 

Trial-and-error learning is possible just because man is cease- 
lessly doing one thing and then another and at the same time 
receiving stimulations. Combinations that are satisfying, in the 
sense of satisfying some want, are selected and repeated, whereas 
those that bring no satisfaction or positive dissatisfaction are 
abandoned. 

Merriment, sport, joy, and humor are not well understood. 
They all represent wants. Whether they are original, simple 
wants or compounds is a matter of discussion. It would seem 
that basically they are expressions of activity. 

Imitation refers to the doing of that which another is doing. 
Because of man's want to be active, he is doing something all 
the time. When he notices an action of another, it becomes a 
part of the total situation affecting him and consequently his 
next act is in terms of it, particularly if he has no other act that 
he wants to perform at the moment. Whether his imitating 
action will be a real copy of what has just been seen, or something 
quite different, depends on a number of factors that will be con^ 
sidered in Lessons 40 and 41. 

4. Readiness. — The principle of readiness has been explained 
in Lesson 31. It represents a very general and fundamental 
condition. At certain times a stimulus-bond-response combina- 
tion is ready to act; at other times it is not. When it is ready to 
act, man wants it to act, and when it does he is satisfied : When 
it is not ready to act, man does not want it to act, and if he is 
forced to act, he is dissatisfied. He is also dissatisfied if a com- 
bination is ready to act and is prevented from doing so. 

When man is ready to act and is stopped, he experiences "sus- 
pense" which ripens into annoyance, irritability, and sometimes 
anger. Thinking is always the inhibiting of activity, for it 
involves waiting while ideas or experiences are reviewed and 



20 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

tested out as to their applicability to the difficulty confronting 
the individual. Thinking has always, then, an element of dis- 
satisfaction connected with it. It is always work as distinguished 
from play, in which latter we are acting with a minimum of con- 
trol. One of our most valuable mental processes is that of inhibi- 
tion, the ability to check an impulse. Moral conduct and intel- 
lectual power cannot be developed without it, for both depend on 
checking the first impulse to act until after the consequences can 
be. evaluated and other possible responses carefully weighed. 

Worry is experienced when we are inhibited from carrying out 
some action involving instinctive behavior. We feel the pent-up 
emotion which would otherwise discharge through the instinctive 
activity. For example, we feel suspense when waiting for a 
street-car. But we worry when the street-car ride is necessary 
to get us to the bedside of our sick child. 

That one of man's strongest wants is to escape from suspense 
and worry explains why he plunges ahead instead of thinking 
any further, or even of stopping to think at all. . 

5. Eating. — Man must eat and drink to keep alive. He is 
geared up natively to suck and swallow, and later to pick up 
objects and put them in his mouth. When he experiences 
certain tastes he eats and swallows; with certain other tastes 
he spits out what he has in his mouth. If he gets something 
into his stomach that does not agree with him, it is vomited up. 
As he grows older he learns also how to use vision and smell 
rather than just taste alone in distinguishing what to put in 
his mouth and what not to. But taste always remains the final 
arbiter of what is good to eat. Man has no original, nor easily 
acquired, interest in a balanced ration : He eats what he wants to. 
Usually what he wants is good, but he will eat some poisons 
very readily. Moreover, he often keeps on eating foods which 
he knows are bad for him, until serious consequences result. 

6. Hunting. — Probably an outgrowth of the reflex of putting 
objects in the mouth is the hunting instinct by which man pursues 
with enthusiasm small escaping animals and objects, catching 
them and dismembering them. The ''want" here is primarily 
to pursue and catch, but there is also probably some native desire 
to possess the object after it is caught. Thorndike^ aptly ex- 
plains how this instinct, so necessary to man in the savage state, 

^ E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. I. 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 21 

becomes twisted and warped under civilized conditions. He 
says: ''The presence of this tendency in man's nature under the 
conditions of civiHzed hfe gets him httle food and much trouble. 
There being no wild animals to pursue, catch, and torment into 
submission or death, household pets, young and timid children, 
or even aunts, governesses, or nursemaids, if sufficiently yielding, 
provoke the responses from the young. The older indulge the 
propensity at great cost of time and money in hunting beasts, 
or at still greater cost of mankind in hounding Quakers, aboli- 
tionists, Jews, Chinamen, scabs, prophets, or suffragettes of the 
non-militant variety. Teasing, bullying, cruelty, are thus in part 
the results of one of Nature's means of providing self and family 
with food; and what grew up as a pillar of human self-support 
has become so extravagant a luxury as to be almost a vice." 

7. Acquisition, Possession, Collecting (Hoarding). — Whether 
there are native 'Svants" to acquire objects, keep them, and 
hoard certain of them, is questionable. The squirrel undoubt- 
edly has all these; the dog also, save that he buries his bones 
separately and not all together. There is no question that man 
acquires these traits very easily, if he does not have them natively. 
Thorndike describes them as follows: 

''To any not too large object which attracts attention and does 
not possess repelling or frightening features, the original response 
is approach, or, if the child is within reaching distance, reaching, 
touching, and grasping. An object having been grasped, its 
possession may provoke the response of putting it in the mouth, 
or of general manipulation, or both. The sight of another human 
being going for the object or busied with it strengthens the 
tendencies toward possession. To resistance the response is 
pulling and twisting the object and pushing away whoever or 
whatever is in touch with it. Failure to get nearer, when one has 
moved toward such an object of attention, and failure to grasp 
it when one reaches for it, provoke annoyance, more vigorous 
responses of the same sort as before, and the neutral action which 
produces an emotion which is the primitive form of desire."^ 

"There is originally," in addition, "a blind tendency to take 

portable objects which attract attention and carry them to one's 

habitation. There is the further response of satisfaction at 

contemplating and figuring them there. These tendencies 

1 E. L. Thorndike, op. cit., p. 53. 



^2 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

commonly crystallize into habits of collecting and storing certain 
sorts of objects whose possession has additional advantages . . . 
Thus, money, marbles, strings, shells, cigar tags, and picture 
postals become favorite objects by their power in exchange, 
convenience of carriage, permanent attractiveness, and utility in 
play. But clear evidences of the original tendency may remain, 
as in those who feel a craving to gather objects which they know 
will be a nuisance to them or who cannot bear to diminish 
hoards which serve no purpose save that of being a hoard." ^ 

8. Vegetative Functions. — Several wants which pertain to the 
needs of the body may be mentioned at this point. 

Need for air to breathe. If this is interfered with the most 
desperate struggling will follow. 

Need for proper temperature. Man avoids too warm or cold 
objects and places. Because of this under certain conditions he 
wants shade or sunshine, a cool breeze, cold water, clothing, 
shelter. 

Freedom from pain and suffering. There exist many reflexes 
which operate to free the body from pain and in a few cases from 
threatened injury, as, for example, coughing and sneezing to 
rid the mouth and throat parts from tickling objects; jerking the 
limbs away from a painful stimulation; winking to protect the 
eye; and dodging and warding off blows to protect the head; 
and so on. It should be emphasized in this connection that there 
are no native tendencies to avoid many pain-producing situations 
until after pain has been experienced. So man wants to escape 
from the effects of ill-health when he feels badly, but he never 
does anything naturally to keep good health when he has it. 
All modern medical aids to health must be learned. 

Need for rest and sleep when fatigued. Man's want to be 
active becomes less and less ready as fatigue comes on. Finally 
he ceases to be active and seeks rest and sleep. The healthy 
infant or young animal is either active, eating, or asleep. It 
does not lie still doing nothing. Adult men and women have 
less excess energy and so respond to fewer miscellaneous stimuli 
than does the child, and when they respond they do so in a less 
active manner, unless there is a definite want present to be satis- 
fied. They tend to conserve their energy and come more and 
more to want those things which save effort. This counter- 

^ E. L. Thorndike, op. ciL, p. 53. 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 23 

tendency to activity, which is distinct from the tendency to rest 
when fatigued, is called inertia. 

9. Reactions to Danger. — Watson^ has studied experimentally 
the behavior of many small babies. He finds that fear is occa- 
sioned by the following situations : (a) '' To suddenly remove from 
the infant all means of support, as when one drops it from the 
hands to be caught by an assistant; (6) by loud noises; (c) occa- 
sionally when an infant is just falling asleep or is just ready to 
waken, a sudden push or a slight shake is an adequate stimulus; 
and {d) when an infant is just falling asleep, occasionally the 
sudden pulling of the blanket upon which it is lying will produce 
the fear responses." "The responses are a sudden catching of 
the breath, clutching randomly with the hands (the grasping 
reflex invariably appearing when the child is dropped), sudden 
closing of the eye-lids, puckering of the lips, then crying; in older 
children possibly flight and hiding (not yet observed by us as 
'original' reactions.)" The above appeared at birth. Watson 
has not found instinctive fear of the dark, nor of snakes, bugs, 
nor animals. (Just how fear of the dark arises will be discussed 
in a later section of this lesson.) 

Rivers^ reports four different instinctive responses to a situa- 
tion producing fear. The first is flight — getting away. Accom- 
panying flight are usually cries of fright. The second is immo- 
bility or paralysis. A covey of young partridges shows the latter 
response most perfectly. It is also seen once in a while when a 
person suddenly stops still in the middle of traffic after having 
run back and forth. Accompanying immobility is the suppres- 
sion of fear and pain. Rivers suggests. A third response is that 
of aggression, fighting back when attacked, especially when 
cornered. Ordinarily fighting is accompanied by anger. (As 
such it will be discussed in the next lesson.) Still a fourth 
response occurs when no one of the others is effective, or possibly 
rather when there is a conflict between such responses. Then 
appears collapse with terror, or in milder form, trembling. 
"This," Rivers says, "is the penalty man has to pay for the 
pliancy of his danger-instincts, for their failure to become 
systematized or fixed in any one direction." 

^ J. B. Watson, Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist, 1919, 
p. 199ff . 

2 W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, 1920, p. 52ff. 



24 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Rivers reports another form of reaction to danger which he 
calls ''manipulative activity" and says, ''it is the normal reac- 
tion of the healthy man. In the presence of danger man, in the 
vast majority of cases, neither flees nor adopts an attitude of 
aggression, but responds by the special kind of activity, often 
of a highly complex kind, whereby the danger may be avoided or 
overcome." For example, "The hunter has to discharge his 
weapon, perhaps combined with movements which put him 
into a favorable situation for such an action." It is well to recog- 
nize that man does act in just such ways in the face of danger. 
But it does not seem correct to call this reaction an "instinctive" 
response to danger. It is really no more than a complex mixture 
of random movements, habits, and instinctive tendencies to fight 
or to run away. 

The Acquisition of Fears. — The stimuli found by Watson that 
produce fear seem ridiculously few in number when all the situa- 
tions which frighten adults are recalled. This leads to one of the 
most important phases of this lesson. Watson has shown that 
adult fears can be taught to children very easily, and he maintains 
that they are learned. The present writer is not yet certain that 
all are learned. It is possible to suppose that the stimulus, 
"a large animal approaching," does not naturally arouse fear 
in infancy, yet might later do so because of some natural change 
within the individual. No reaction on the part of the baby 
would serve to protect it anyway, whereas in the case of older 
children and adults flight would often save life. At the present 
time we do not know whether the reaction "flight" to the stimu- 
lus "mad bull approaching" is native or acquired. But we do 
know that all would run if faced by such a situation. But — to 
return to Watson's contention that fears are learned — how does 
this learning take place? 

Watson experimented v^^ith a baby that had shown no fear of 
the dark or of tame animals, such as mice, rabbits, cats, dogs, and 
pigeons that ran or flew about him, or of wild animals at the Zoo. 
Then, on another day, after the baby had again shown no fear 
of rats, Watson presented a white rat and at the same time had a 
loud noise made. To the latter the child responded with fear. 
A few minutes later the rat was again presented and the baby 
reacted with fear to it. And more surprising still, he showed fear 
of other animals, and even of a false face which Watson put on 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 25 

his presence. This is merely another example of substitution 
of stimulus-learning (refer to Lesson 11), i. e., 

white rat ; > visual exploration 

loud noise -^ fear 

But there is a profound difference between learning to react 
to a new stimulus in an emotional manner and learning to react 
in some way involving no emotion. In the former case one exper- 
ience is usually sufficient to connect the new situation with the 
emotional response so that it may function for years in that way : 
In the latter case more than one experience is necessary and the 
new combination can be forgotten or broken up without much 
difficulty. 

We see this substitution in animals as well as man. ''If a 
horse is violently frightened at a certain point on the road 
by a terrifying object (a rolling paper in one observed case), it 
may exhibit the fear reaction when again passing over that part 
of the road, although the terrifying object is no longer present. 
A shaky bridge will make a sensitive horse terror-stricken, and 
this will endure long after the bridge has been made of concrete." 

10. Emotion. — Some of man's most important wants are of a 
purely emotional sort; in others emotion is involved as a leading 
element. To understand these wants we must have some con- 
ception of what emotion is. 

Nature of Emotion. — Cannon^ tells us that under the influence 
of emotion the heart beats more rapidly, the blood pressure rises, 
and breathing becomes deeper and also more rapid. The blood 
is driven out of the entire digestive system to the heart, lungs, 
brain, and muscles through the contraction of the blood vessels 
in the digestive system, and their dilation, particularly in the 
muscles. Sweat may break out on the skin, thereby preparing 
the body for rapid elimination of heat and waste products follow- 
ing excessive muscular activity. Such changes constitute the 
fundamental basis of an emotion. But the mechanism is even 
more complicated. There are two small glands, situated near 
the kidneys, called the adrenal glands. They also are stimulated. 
And they pour into the blood-stream a chemical called adrenalin. 
This chemical affects the various internal organs directly and 

1 W. B. Cannon, Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage, 1915. 



26 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

in the same way that the nervous system has already done. It 
stimulates the heart to greater activity; it causes the blood ves- 
sels in the stomach and intestines to contract and those in the 
muscles to dilate; it causes the stored-up sugar in the liver to be 
poured into the blood and used as fuel for the working muscles; 
it eliminates consciousness of fatigue and it even goes so far, 
apparently, as to put the blood in such condition that it will clot 
more rapidly than usual if the body is wounded. 

What we experience when emotionally excited is the sum total 
of our consciousness of all these bodily changes. And apparently 
whether we are excited because of fear, rage, or love, our body is 
prepared for the maximum expenditure of muscular activity. 

The above constitutes what might be called the physiological 
side of emotion; the psychological or conscious side is hardly 
understood at all. But it is clear that the conscious differences 
between fear, rage, and love cannot be explained as Cannon has 
described emotion; there are other elements that must be 
included. 

Emotion can be viewed as a special adaptation of the whole 
body to make responses, and to do so with the maximum avail- 
able energy and endurance. Emotion can be likened to the 
magneto in some types of automobile. It has to be stimulated 
(cranked), but once started it keeps the whole mechanism 
going. 

Psychologists are not in agreement as to what emotions man 
has. Watson,^ for example, maintains that there are only three 
different emotions — namely, fear, rage, and love. Woodworth^ 
speaks of grief, mirth, and other emotions. In addition, 
McDougall^ recognizes a somewhat different list : Fear, disgust, 
wonder, anger, subjection, elation, and tender emotion. The 
writer will attempt no list of emotions, but simply maintain 
that with each instinct there is present a stirred-up or emotional 
state. 

How are instinct and emotion related? Suppose you are sud- 
denly attacked. Immediately you fight back, or run away. 
Here the chief characteristic of behavior is instinctive — either 
fighting or fleeing. But suppose you wake up and think there 

^ J. B. Watson, op. cit., p. 199. 

2 R. S. Woodworth, Dynamic Psychology, 1918, p. 51. 

3 W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1918, Chap. Ill, 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 27 

is a burglar near by. You listen and become surcharged with 
emotion. In the first case you were just as emotionally aroused 
as in the second case, but you were too occupied with what you 
were doing to be conscious of it. In the second case, not being 
active, you are aware of your stirred-up condition. Rivers,^ 
writing in this connection says, ''Those who escape from danger 
by the performance of some complex activity bear almost unani- 
mous witness that, while so engaged, they were wholly free from 
the fear which the danger might have been expected to arouse 
. . . That the absence of fear is due to suppression of the effect 
(emotion), which seems to accompany the primitive reaction to 
danger, is supported by the insensitiveness to pain which often 
occurs at the same time. Not only may an injury occurring in 
the presence of danger fail wholly to be perceived, but the pain 
already present may completely disappear, even if it depends 
upon definite organic changes." 

Emotion is primarily a physiological stirred-up condition by 
which instinctive responses may be facilitated, and is ordinarily 
consciously experienced only when the instinctive response is 
inhibited. 

Emotional Wants. — In all of the discussion so far concerning 
instinctive activities, it has been assumed that emotion is aroused 
simultaneously. That is the normal course of events. But often 
the individual is prevented from making the instinctive response. 
He then becomes ''pent-up" with emotion (kinetic energy); he 
becomes like an anarchist's bomb already to explode. What 
does he want to do then? Consciously he wants to discharge 
this pent-up energy, and he does it sooner or later. So the 
employe who has been "called down" by his boss lets fly at a fel- 
low-employe, or at the newsboy on the street, the conductor on the 
way home, or the cat on the porch, or he growls at the tough steak 
for dinner. At least two school teachers in one school, expecting 
a hoHday and suddenly ordered to keep school if half the class 
attended, made life miserable for the children who did attend, 
to the utter consternation of the children, who could not 
understand why they should be denounced for having come to 
school. 

From a hygienic standpoint, when one is in a pent-up condition, 
physical exercise, Hke walking, is a very good way of using up 

1 W. H. R. Rivers, op. ciL, p. 57. 



28 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

this excess energy. It is amazing how much brighter the world 
looks after a good walk. Herein lies one of the best reasons why 
exercise is good for the young. The person who is pent-up 
should refrain from eating, for when he is emotionally excited 
digestion does not take place and the food only sours in the 
stomach. 

The experiencing of emotion is usually pleasant. Even in the 
case of fear, worry, and other unpleasant emotions, a small degree 
is enjoyable. Children like to work themselves up over an ap- 
proaching ragman whom they view as a kidnapper. Much of the 
enjoyment of reading novels or attending a movie comes from 
emotional thrills of all sorts. Apparently a great number of 
people get much of their amusement in this way, i. e., through 
arousing their emotions and just enjoying them in day-dreams, 
reading novels, going to revival services, etc. Some of this is 
very desirable. But too often it results in short-circuiting the 
emotional activity into perfectly useless channels (aside from the 
enjoyment of it) and the person does not become the forceful 
character that he might be. The secret to the success of certain 
people would seem to be that they have learned to utilize all of 
their energies along the line of their work, thereby getting much 
enjoyment in connection with their work and also accomplishing 
a surprising amount.^ 

Some Practical Applications 

Emotional Responses Easily Attached to Situations. — Fear 
can be attached to any situation if that situation is presented 
simultaneously with another situation which already arouses fear. 
Thus, a baby and its mother encounter a spider, the mother 
screams from terror and the child shows fright. The mother's 
cry here arouses the baby's fear. The spider has, however, been 
associated with fear responses and the next time it is seen the 
child shows fear. Thus do human beings learn to fear, or love, 
or hate, to show approval or scorn. These reactions govern 
life far more than do intellectual responses. But today their 
development is largely left to chance, whereas they should be 
most carefully handled. 

^ For further discussion see W. James, Energies of Men; J. B. Watson, 
op. ciL, p. 214ff; and A. G. Tansley, The New Psychology^ 1^20. 



33 FUNDAMENTAL INDIVIDUAL WANTS 29 

Man's Natural Wants are the Starting Point in Interesting 
Him and in Building Behavior of Value to Him and to Society. — 

The presentation of any situation which arouses instinctive or 
strong habitual responses will attract attention and arouse genu- 
ine interest because it will be naturally and pleasurably reacted 
to. In this course we shall not be able to consider this topic as 
it deserves. But the student should see to it that he does secure 
such instruction as an integral part of his preparation for teach- 
ing. Let us consider, however, a number of examples of how 
attention is secured through presenting situations which are 
connected with instinctive responses. 

The whole movement to make schoolroom work play for small 
children is an example. Anything that is ''play" for a child is 
instinctive or very simply related to the instinctive. The game 
of throwing at a target and then scoring up the hits is based on 
many instincts, — love of activity for its own sake, rivalry, secur- 
ing favorable attention, etc. Incidentally the children learn to 
count and to know what various combinations of figures mean. 

In physical education there has been a very pronounced drift 
away from regular exercises to plays and games. The teacher 
has less trouble now than formerly in securing discipline or getting 
effective work done, because the pupil naturally wants to do 
just these things. Rearrangement of the work in this depart- 
ment to fit the instinctive life of the pupil has, then, resulted in 
accomplishing the same aims with far less trouble for the teacher. 
Undoubtedly, too, the pupils have greatly benefited, because 
now they enjoy the work whereas formerly a goodly number hated 
it. 

In teaching nature study and other subjects much is often made 
of the collecting instinct. The collecting of different kinds of 
leaves, of seed pods, of birds' nests, etc. is most easily brought 
about by simply suggesting it. The child learns a truly surpris- 
ing amount of detail in connection with the instinctive perform- 
ance of collecting and hoarding. Of his own accord, a boyhood 
friend of the writer carried the collecting tendency over from 
collecting the objects themselves to making lists of them. He 
still owns the notebook in which for several years he hsted on each 
date all the birds he saw. The collecting instinct was funda- 
mental to the acquiring of knowledge about the birds in the 
vicinity. 



30 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

These instincts can be utilized in almost any course of study 
in which a large number of very similar objects must be accumu- 
lated. Even lists of words with a common stem, as they are 
accumulated, take on an added interest because of the collecting 
instinct. 

Geography and history courses are steadily being humanized; 
the lower we go in the school system the truer we find this to be. 
We can accomplish the same results with far less effort by 
building our historical or geographical conceptions around the lives 
of real people than around abstract conceptions. This is because 
we are instinctively interested in the doings of living beings, 
animals as well as men. Thus, in a typical present-day primary 
course, child-life among the old Tree-Dwellers and Cave Men is 
used as the second-grade history work, and is followed in the 
third grade by a study of Child-life among Esquimos and Indians. 
Geography is introduced by showing how children live today in 
other lands, such as Holland or Japan. ^ 



LESSON 34 

FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 

Man's social wants can be grouped, for convenience, under five 
main heads according as man is concerned with fighting, with 
reproduction, with care of offspring, with a group of individuals, 
and with play. 

Resisting Interference — Fighting 

Psychologists are not yet in accord as to what are the stimuli 
that arouse fighting and anger. McDougall^ contends that there 
is ''no specific object or objects the perception of which consti- 
tutes the initial stage of the instinctive process. The condition 
of its excitement is rather any opposition to the free exercise of 
any impulse, any obstruction to the activity to which the crea- 
ture is impelled by any one of the other instincts." He explains 
the anger aroused by a sudden and unprovoj^ed blow as due to 
interference with the instinct of self-assertion (discussed below) 
and defends his case by claiming that one does not become angry 
over a blow received from an impersonal source. Watson^ 
upholds this view when he states that ''the hampering of the 
infants' movements is the factor which apart from all training 
brings out the movements characterized by rage." Thorndike^ 
recognizes in addition to interference the stimulus of sudden pain 
as a cause of fighting and anger. 

In terms of the fighting instinct, we may state that man wants 
to be let alone at all times, except possibly when he is sick, and 
then he wants nursing care. Man further particularly wants not 
to be interfered with when engaged in any activity. In other 
words, when he is ready to react he does not like to be checked. 
Even such a trivial matter as having another person walk in 

1 W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1918, p. 62. 

2 J. B. Watson, Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist, 1919, 
p. 200. 

3 E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. I, p. 68ff. 

31 



32 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

front of one so that one has to slow up a Httle causes irritation and 
annoyance. 

If the interfering individual appears to be not too inferior in 
fighting qualities, the response is anger and fighting back; while 
if he appears to be decidedly inferior, the response is more 
irritation than anger and a mastering rather than a fighting 
attitude is assumed (discussed below). If he gives the impression 
of being equal or slightly superior, the response of rivalry 
results; and if he is clearly superior, submissiveness results, 
unless overt attack is experienced, in which case the response 
is flight and fear, or — if flight is impossible — defensive fighting. 

Some of the most deplorable aspects of behavior result from 
the fighting instinct. Jealousy is due to interference (as with 
one's loved one) when attack is not possible. Resentment, 
hatred and revenge arise when one is interfered with and cannot 
fight back, because of physical inferiority, or because some other 
advantage may be lost if an attack is made. Thus, we resent 
much more the interfering actions of a superior in business whom 
we could defeat in a fist-fight than we do those of a superior whom 
we could not possibly defeat. 

Sex Instinct 

Watson^ finds that "stroking or manipulation of some erogen- 
ous zone, tickling, shaking, gentle rocking, patting, and turning 
upon the stomach across the attendant's knee" are the situations 
producing love-responses in babies. "The response varies. 
If the infant is crying, crying ceases, a smile may appear, attempts 
at gurgling, cooing, and finally, in slightly older children, the exten- 
sion of the arms, which we should class as the forerunner of the 
embrace of adults." All this is far-removed from what is under- 
stood as sex behavior. Whether all the difference is acquired 
from experience, or whether part is due to the later development 
of the sexual and other internal glands of the body is not known. 

Observation of adults suggests very strongly that the sex 
instinct must be considered in terms of two levels — the purely 
physical level and the psychical level. This psychical level per- 
tains to the mental relations between individuals of the opposite 
sex who are in love. Courting and the everyday life of husband 
and wife are on this level. In addition, another center of inter- 

^ J. B. Watson, op. dt., p. 201. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 33 

est can be postulated, involving the parental instinct, in which the 
sex instinct is expressed through the parents' care and protection 
of the offspring. All evidence points to the conclusion that a full 
and happy life requires interrelations between husband and wife 
on the basis of all three of these interests.^ 

In the very brief space here available it is impossible to even 
attempt to cover this subject. But one other characteristic 
of instinctive activities needs attention and can very well be 
illustrated in terms of this particular instinct. An individual 
may be very vitally interested in the stimulus that is arousing 
him, or the emotion that he is experiencing, or the response he is 
making, but he is seldom aware of all three phases at the same 
time. And still more important, he is not aware that because 
of the stimulus he is really forced to do what he finds himself 
doing, or to feel as he finds himself feeling. That is, the compul- 
sive nature of the instinctive mechanism is seldom consciously 
realized — the instinct is hardly comprehended as such. Unless 
the adolescent comes in contact with others of his own age of both 
sexes and enjoys their company and their games and amusements, 
including a wholesome amount of flirting, the sex instinct remains 
very largely an unknown force and pretty much beyond conscious 
control. Most of us can give illustrations of this drawn from the 
lives of our acquaintances. Several persons have come under the 
writer's notice who were deprived of ordinary adolescent social 
life, and who have never been able to adjust themselves, even 
when they had made apparently suitable marriages. The prob- 
lems arising when youth becomes acquainted with its instinctive 
tendencies, especially those of sex, are among the most serious 
that confront parents, educators, and those interested in social 
welfare. 

Because of social restrictions the sex instinct is more often 
inhibited when ready to function than any other. For this reason 
it is the cause of much of the unrest of the world. And surpris- 
ingly often the individual is unaware of the cause of his restless- 
ness. The restlessness becomes attached to situations that occur 
at the time, just as fear occasioned by a loud noise becomes at- 
tached to a mouse or spider or the dark. Because of this the 
celibate person has the ''blues" from time to time, shows dissatis- 
faction with what he is doing, wants to try something else. But 

1 A. G. Tansley, The New Psychology, 1920. 
3 



34 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

no change will alleviate his unrest. It is the price youth has to 
pay for prolonging the period of preparation for life. 

Parental Instinct 

The stimulus that arouses the parental instinct is the baby 
and particularly the cries, gestures, and movements of the baby. 
The most potent of all is the cry of distress or pain. But expres- 
sions on the baby's face, interpreted by adults as satisfaction or 
dissatisfaction, are also stimuli. The responses are to notice, 
get hold of, fondle and nurse the baby, also to show delight in 
owning it, pleasure at its expressions of happiness and concern 
over its expressions of unhappiness and distress. Part of the 
instinctive response is a general tendency to do things that will 
cause the child to show delight and cease its cries. The emotion 
accompanying this instinct has been called 'Hender emotion" 
by McDougall for the lack of a better term. 

These responses are best exhibited by the mother toward her 
own child; but they are fairly well shown by nearly all women and 
even girls and by men and boys. Some women do not show so 
much tender emotion as many writers would have us believe, 
even toward their first-l>orn. As time goes on, however, the full 
strength of the instinct often develops. Men, even fathers, show 
much less of this instinct than women, but they respond to 
babies to some extent, particularly in feeding, protecting, and 
playing with them. 

The instinct becomes modified very easily in some directions. 
The mother picks up surprisingly quickly the approved ways of 
handling the child. It is modified not only by the acquisition 
of new responses but also by the addition of new stimuli. Any 
child will arouse it as does one's own. (Undoubtedly^ herein lies 
woman's objection to fighting among boys — their cries make her 
uncomfortable; she must do something to change the cries of 
distress into those of pleasure, or at least to stop them.) The 
instinct becomes similarly aroused by the young of any species. 
Even baby mice are tenderly reacted to by a woman who hates 
grown mice; she finds it difficult to dispatch them. In many 
women there is an inordinate interest in small things, suggesting 
that *'smallness" in general arouses the instinct; very small 
articles are called ''cute" or ''ducky." This instinct is also 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 35 

aroused, but among a fewer number, by suffering in adult men and 
women and adult animals. McDougalP feels that the emotion 
aroused in such cases may be tender emotion but that more usually 
it is rather the complex emotion of pity — pity being made up of ten- 
der emotion and sympathetic pain. By this is meant that the 
sight of a wretched looking blind man makes us put ourselves in 
his place and imagine his feelings, which to us are unpleasant. Ac- 
cording to the relative strength of our pain or tenderness we hurry 
by, wishing ''they wouldn't allow such people in public places," 
or we buy a pencil or possibly help him in some other way. A 
well-dressed blind man arouses some pity, but much more tender 
emotion, so that nearly everyone will help him across the street, 
whereas many people find it difficult to help the beggar, although 
they would like to. 

The great strength of the parental instinct leads to many 
actions that are undesirable. Relatively few women can force 
themselves to bring up a child on a regular regimen because they 
cannot refrain from violating their own rules when the child 
cries. And there are not many (speaking from my own observa- 
tion), who, when entertaining a neighbor's child, will comply with 
the parent's request not to feed it as it is not feeling well. ''Just 
a little candy won't do any harm," is the defense. The real 
cause is that there is too great satisfaction in feeding a child to 
permit of its being inhibited by admonitions from the child's 
mother. It is easy today to arouse public opinion because of 
suffering. But it is extremely difficult to secure help in correct- 
ing the conditions that cause the suffering, particularly if the two 
are not clearly associated. The same situation holds true with 
respect to a parent's attitude toward the child's health. Many 
parents will calmly refuse to do anything for a child who is devel- 
oping trachoma, although they are thoroughly warned. But 
later when they themselves can see the child's sore eyes and 
realize his defective vision, they will spend money freely and show 
the greatest agitation. Because of the strength of the instinct, 
women would tie their children to their apron strings, if it were 
not that most children are active enough to escape. Yet woman 
admires the brave and despises the coward. Only a mother can 
comprehend the struggle that goes on in mothers' hearts when 
war is declared, and women have to decide between protecting 

1 W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1918, p. 77. 



36 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

their boys and letting them do their duty. The marvel is that so 
many women quit themselves as heroes. 

Filial Love, — Most writers maintain that on the part of chil- 
dren towards their parents there is no instinctive response corre- 
sponding to the parental instinct. Children do have the parental 
instinct itself, though in weaker form, showing it towards dogs, 
cats, and dolls. This sentiment they show in some degree toward 
their parents. But they have relatively less opportunity because 
the parent does not often satisfy the ideal situation arousing this 
instinct, not being small, helpless, nor given to crying. Children 
show love most when the mother breaks down and cries, or when 
either parent is sick or in distress. If parents would have their 
children love them not only in childhood but in after life they 
must provide opportunities whereby the child will begin serving 
them early in life and continue doing so as they grow older. 

Wood worth ^ suggests that there is a fihal instinct to ''take 
from" the parents, in contradistinction to the parental instinct 
to ''give to" the child. If so, it is not unnatural for the child 
to impose on the mother in a way in which the mother cannot 
act toward the child. This suggests that possibly the want for 
nursing care which children and even adults exhibit, particularly 
when in pain or distress, is the chief characteristic of this wanting 
to "take from" that Woodworth has described. 

Gregarious Instinct 

Man, apparently, has certain instinctive responses to the pres- 
ence and behavior of other men, in addition to fighting, sex, and 
parental responses. The following discussion presents certain 
wants that men have. Whether or not they are all native is 
another question. 

Man Wants to be With Others. — When alone he is restless 
and uneasy. When in a crowd he is more or less satisfied. 
Ostracism is a real punishment. This instinct is one of the 
causes for people's leaving the farm and congregating in cities. 
(Rivers^ believes there is also an opposite instinctive tendency to 
seek solitude under certain conditions, as was exhibited by many 
men during the War and as is shown by some when fishing, hunt- 
ing, or in selecting particular jobs for their daily work.) 

1 R. S. Woodworth, Psychology, 1921, p. 150. 

2 W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, 1920, p. 150. 



1 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 37 

Man Wants to Watch Others. — Much of the fun at Goney 
Island consists of being in the crowd, of watching others, and of 
being noticed in turn. 

Man Wants to be Noticed by Others. — In a large city we are 
"fed up" on this most of the time. But we often catch ourselves 
becoming annoyed because someone does not notice us. In 
rural communities everyone wants to be spoken to. Saluting 
in the army is a custom which has grown out of this want. Both 
private and general want to be noticed, and from my observation, 
they are equally incensed when they .are ignored. 

Man Apprehends in a Feeling Way Simple Emotions Expressed 
by Another. — The preceding three wants are possibly all phases 
of this tendency. We want to be with people, to watch them, and 
to be noticed in order that we may enjoy the emotions that are 
aroused by these contacts. 

McDougalP writes that each instinct can be aroused by the 
expression of that instinct in another, and calls the process 
sympathy, or "sympathetic induction of emotion or feeling." 
So the expression of fear by A makes B fearful; expressions of love 
by A arouse B emotionally in the same way; etc. This seems to 
be true of some cases but not all. Throndike^ points out that 
"the spectators of an infuriated man, or of two men raging at 
each other, are not thereby provoked to similar acts and feelings. 
They manifest rather 'curiosity- wonder,' forming a ring to stare, 
the world over." So also, "A's fleeing from B does not make B 
flee from A; nor A's shrinking from B make B shrink from A; 
nor A's self-abasement before B make B abase himself before A." 

The view of the writer of this book is that although man does 
not always tend to act as another is instinctively acting, he does 
apprehend in a feeling way the emotion which another shows when 
that emotion is of a simple, instinctive sort. It is not contended 
that there is understanding in any intellectual sense, but merely 
an unanalyzable appreciation of the emotional state of the other 
person. Little children giggle sentimentally when the hero 
kisses the heroine at the "movie," although they understand very 
little of the situation and can express still less of it in words. 
A baby will alternate between shrieks bordering on terror and 
shouts of joy as the parent changes his expression from angry 

1 W. McDougall, op. cit, p. 93ff. 
2E. L. Thomdike, op. cit, p. 117ff. 



38 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

attack to laughter. My three children could not control them- 
selves in this respect — any of them — until about five years of age. 

The most striking examples of the ways in which we not only 
emotionally /ee? but in addition behave as other do are: ''smiling 
when smiled at, laughing when others laugh, yelling when others 
yell, running with or after people who are running, running from 
the focus whence others scatter, jabbering when others jabber 
and becoming silent when they become silent, crouching when 
others crouch, chasing, attacking, and rending what others hunt, 
and seizing whatever object another seizes." These are ''the 
chief, or even the only components of the imitative tendency,^' 
according to Thorndike, "which shows itself in large masses of 
men, and produces panics, and orgies, and frenzies of violence, 
and which only the rarest individuals can actively withstand." 

The behavior of an individual instinctively aroused is always 
a prepotent stimulus interesting us. Whether we join with him 
or do something entirely different depends upon the sum total 
of all the stimuli affecting us at the moment and the wants that 
are controlling action. 

It is along this line that explanation must be developed to 
account for the surprising quickness with which all, including 
small children, "size up" a stranger and show a like or dislike 
for him. Such reactions are, of course, often mistaken; but the 
point is that they are made, and at the time we are sure they are 
correct. The systems advertised so widely by which we may 
learn to size-up strangers in terms of physiognomy, shape of 
hands, phrenology, etc., are to be sure, all poppy-cock.^ So far 
no one has studied the expression of the face and the general man- 
ner of a person when he enters a room, says " Good-morning" and 
shakes our hands, his reaction to the back-and-forth play of 
conversation, or our own emotional reactions to him, yet it is 
probably in terms of these expressive factors that we come to 
like or dislike the newcomer. 

Man Uses His Vocal Organs to Affect the Behavior of Others. — 
A baby cries when hungry, uncomfortable or in pain. To these 
cries the parent responds instinctively. Children • and even 
adults, when suddenly frightened, shriek with terror, and this 
cry is different from that which accompanies pain. Other human 

^ See H. L. Hollingworth, Vocational Psychology, for a general discusson of 
this subject. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 39 

beings instinctively notice these cries and respond in a great 
variety of ways, depending upon circumstances. Male animals 
make as frightening noises as possible when attacked or about 
to attack. In addition to these vocal activities which man has 
in common with many other animals, it is to be noted that man 
has a speech mechanism of which he very easily gains control. 
So much is native. The particular sounds he comes to make and 
their organization into language -are acquired. Speech is evi- 
dently for the purpose of affecting others so as to gain what one 
wants, to obtain notice and secure approval. It is undoubtedly 
very important also in connection with thinking processes, but 
the relationship is a matter of controversy. Laughter, the 
enjoyment of the comical, etc., are other activities related to 
speech. But here again there is very great speculation and little 
or no agreement regarding the explanation of them.^ 

Man Wants to Show Approval and Disapproval. — When another 
exhibits any instinctive act of strength or daring, or rescues us 
or others from fear, or relieves us from hunger, or shows gorgeous 
display, we instinctively show approval by smiling, or staring in 
a respectful manner, or shouting encouragement. 

On the other hand, evidences of physical weakness and mean- 
ness, emptyhandedness, deformity, and cowardice cause us to 
frown, hoot, and sneer. 

One has only to attend a baseball game to see both of these 
instinctive responses shown repeatedly. Often we see a crowd 
reverse itself within a few minutes, first hooting and yelling at a 
player for muffing an easy catch, and then cheering just as voci- 
ferously over the successful handling of a difficult one. 

Approval and disapproval are shown instinctively, it would 
seem, only toward actions of physical strength, daring, and the 
like, or their opposites. They are not shown natively toward 
manifestations of moral character or of good manners. Habits 
of approval and disapproval toward such behavior must be 
developed. And they are developed with surprising ease in 
many cases. The necessary condition for their development is 
the approval of the crowd or that of a recognized leader. So a 
boys' gang is good or bad depending upon the character of its 
leader. What we wear, think and do is largely controlled by 
what others about us wear, think, and do. Only the exceptional 

1 E. L. Thorndike, op. ciL, p. 157ff. 



40 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

man deviates from the standards of the crowd, and then usually 
in a few respects only. 

Man Wants to Receive Approval and Wants to Escape Dis- 
approval. — When we receive approval we feel satisfied, and con- 
tinue doing what we are doing. When disapproval is experienced 
we feel dissatisfied; we stop doing what we are doing, and tend to 
do something else. For example, a professional ball-player, after 
having muffed an easy fly, adjusted his hat three times, removed 
his glove and put it back on twice, spat on his glove four times, 
shifted his position several times, pulled up his trousers three 
times, and made many minor movements, in response to the 
hooting of the crowd, to which he pretended not to pay any 
attention. A few minutes later he caught left-handed a high fly, 
and on walking" back to his station made none of these move- 
ments, but merely smiled, squatted down, and remained quiet 
as long as the crowd continued to show its approval. 

Here we have the explanation of self-conscious and suggestible 
attitudes studied in Lesson 9. The individual is afraid of dis- 
approval and is watching for signs of it instead of tending strictly 
to his work. 

Because man receives approval and disapproval very largely 
on the basis of physical strength and daring rather than of more 
highly cultured performances, there is a steady tendency in society 
to run downhill in the latter respect. Keeping up culture stand- 
ards requires work on the part of those who stand for the higher 
things of life. And physical leadership gives a great advantage 
to a man, regardless of his other attainments. President Wilson 
undoubtedly lost prestige when he declared us ''too proud to 
fight." And much of his failure to influence society was due 
either to his indifference or to his inability to state his idealism in 
more primitive concepts which the mass of men would and 
could approve. 

This want of man explains the surprising ease with which 
people change established personal habits — such as calling a 
quarter 'Hwo bits," or eating with the knife — in a short time 
simply in response to contempt from others whose good opinion 
is desired. Here is one of the teacher's strongest weapons in 
getting boys and girls to acquire all sorts of habits. And the 
more thoroughly the teacher is looked up to, the easier it is for 
that teacher to secure compliance with his request. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCI.AL WANTS 41 

Although man wants approval, he does not want it from any 
one he considers below him, unless it is expressed in a humble 
manner. So a pat on the back would never be accepted from a 
bootblack, although it is enjoyed immensely when coming from 
one's "boss." An example of what is called lack of tact is show- 
ing approval of a superior without at the same time expressing 
submission to his leadership. 

Man Wants to Assert Himself; to Compel Approval from 
Others ; to Lead Others. — Three distinct phases of this want are 
discernible. There is, first, a defensive type of assertion; 
second, an aggressive type; and third, an outgrowth of the 
aggressive type which takes the form of leadership. The first 
is unquestionably native; the second probably so; while the 
third, to the extent that it is different from the second, is largely 
acquired. 

1. Defensive Type of Self-assertion. — Woodworth^ has called 
attention particularly to this type of self-assertion. He points 
out that resistance of any sort to action that has been initiated 
acts as a stimulus to the putting forth of additional energy into 
carrying out the action. For example, in running a lawn-mower 
a small amount of energy is used. But when a snag is encoun- 
tered more energy is instantly released, and one shoves and shoves 
before stopping to extract the stick caught between the blades. 
One just naturally prefers to exert more and more energy and 
finally cut the stick in two than to inhibit all activity in this 
direction and eliminate the trouble by other means. This 
"release of energy and onward striving" is the basis of self- 
assertion of the defensive type. All this is very similar to the 
fighting instinct. The distinction between the two is clear if 
one watches the behavior of a small child who has been caught by 
an adult. First he attempts to pull away, struggling with all 
his strength; later he becomes enraged and starts crying. At 
first there is merely the self-assertive reaction, characterized by 
more or less emotional states of strain and effort or determination. 
If success is not attained then the emotional state changes into 
anger and fighting reactions appear. If success is obtained dur- 
ing the first stage the emotional state of effort changes into that 
of elation. This we see clearly when the child succeeds in break- 
ing away — the set, grim defiance changes into happy excitement 

1 R. S. Woodworth, Psychology, 1921, p. 161fif. 



42 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

over the victory. Opposition to resistance or interference is 
accordingly native. 

2. Aggressive Type of Self-assertion. — In addition to mere 
resistance to interference there is the more active aspect of self 
assertion. Thorndike^ describes this tendency as follows: 
''There is, I believe, an original tendency to respond to 'the 
presence of a human being who notices one, but without approv- 
ing or submissive behavior' by holding the head up and a little 
forward, staring at him or not looking at him at all, or alternately 
staring and ignoring, doing whatever one is doing somewhat 
more rapidly and energetically and making displays of activity, 
and by satisfaction if the person looks on without interference or 
scorn. There is a further tendency to go up to such an unprot- 
esting human being, increasing the erection and projection of 
the head, looking him in the eye, and perhaps nudging or shov- 
ing him. There is also an original tendency to feel satisfaction 
at the appearance and continuance of submissive behavior on 
the part of the human being one meets. These tendencies we 
may call the instinct of attempt at mastery. 

'^Such behavior is much commoner in the male than in the 
female. In her the forward thrust of the head, the approach, 
displays of strength, nudging and shoving are also commonly 
replaced by facial expressions and other less gross movements. 

''If the human being who answers these tendencies assumes 
a submissive behavior, in essence a lowering of head and shoulders 
wavering glance, absence of all preparations for attack, general 
weakening of muscle tonus, and hesitancy in movement, the 
movements of attempt at mastery become modified into attempts 
at the more obvious swagger, strut and glare of triumph. The 
submissive attitude may also provoke the master to protect the 
submissive one. If the human being protests by thrusting his 
head up and out, glaring back, and not giving way to advance, 
the aggressor either becomes submissive or there is more or less 
of a conflict of looks, gestures, yells, or actual attacks, until, as 
was described under the fighting instinct, the submission of one 
or the exhaustion of both . . . 

''The original behavior in mastery and submission, and in 
disapproving, being approved and being scorned, derided and 
neglected, becomes very much complicated by differences in the 

1 E. L. Thorndike, op. ciL, p. 92ff. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 43 

sex of the person who is the situation and in the sex and maturity 
of the person who is responding, by an increase in the number of 
persons who are the situation, and by the presence in the situa- 
tion of elements provocative of curiosity, fear, anger, repugnance, 
the hunting instinct, kindhness, sex attraction and coy behavior. 
My account of attempt at mastery would be only partly true of 
any cases save those where the situation and the response were 
the behaviors of two males of about the same degree of physical 
maturity. Mastery and submission are fit illustrations of the 
universal fact that the many unit tendencies to respond to char- 
acteristic situations combine in elaborately complex totals. 
This fact makes the original social tendencies of man seem, at 
first sight like a helplessly unpredictable muddle of domineering, 
subservience, notice, disregard, sex pursuit, aversion, showing 
off, shyness, fear, confidence, cruelty and kindness. It also 
makes such unit-tendencies as I have described under approval, 
scorn, mastery and submission seem abstract and schematic, 
as indeed, they are . . . We may be confident, however, that 
did we know enough, we should find that whether a person will in 
a given case be shy, or indulge in display, or alternate between the 
two— whether he will domineer or plead in courtship — whether 
he will respond towards a given child by approval, domineering, 
bullying, protection, hunting, or fondling — could in every case 
be prophesied from knowledge of the situation and of him." 

No statistical study has ever been made as to whether all 
individuals possess this instinct, and if so, whether to the same 
degree of strength. Yet we have all manner of social theories 
based on belief in the absolute equality of all men; or on belief 
that some are born to lead, the remainder to follow abjectly; or 
on all manner of intermediate positions. 

3. Leadership is, I believe, based on both phases of self-asser- 
tion. But it is more than that. The play of children will 
illustrate the point. One child wants to build a fort with his 
blocks, another to play bear, and a third to play school. Each 
wants his own way and resists interference, but each also wants 
the others to play with him and to approve of his game and of 
him. Solutions to this are many and varied. One child may get 
his way (lead and the others, follow); or they may each go off and 
play alone (self-assertion satisfied but lack of gregariousness and 
approval); or they may all join another group (gregariousness 



44 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

satisfied, coupled with submission not to each other but to some- 
one else); etc. The most satisfying solution to each child is to 
play his own game and to lead the others in that game. But 
such domination can be, and is, obtained only through superior 
physical or mental ability, coupled up with genuine self-assertion. 
Leadership is accordingly based on native self-assertion and on 
mental and physical superiority over one's fellows, but the form 
it takes develops out of experience. If this is true, provision 
should be made in educational institutions for the development 
of leaders from among the superior individuals who show 
aggressive self-assertion. 

Disobedience is in many cases nothing more nor less than self- 
assertion; in other cases it is due to ignorance. Obedience 
consists of habits which run counter to this instinct. They are 
built up in terms of the want to please a beloved one or of the 
want to escape punishment (fear) . In the first case children are 
obedient in order to please, and so do not tend to be obedient 
when their friends are not present; in the second case they are 
much more likely to obey strangers. The best type of obedience 
has a mixture of both elements in it. 

Display — Showing-off. — The instincts of self-assertion and 
responding to approval are modified in a great variety of ways. 
Habits which secure approval and permit of self-assertion are 
formed amazingly quickly, and are dropped just as quickly when 
they no longer bring the desired behavior from others. Many 
such habits can be designated as showing-off, or display. So 
children show off before visiting children or adults, continuing 
to do anything they have hit on that secures approval and chang- 
ing to something else as soon as they are no longer noticed. 
Much social exchange between adults is for no other purpose than 
just this. The most extreme case that the writer has encountered 
is that of a young stenographer who fainted one day in her office. 
The doctor and nurse who took her home testified that she had 
fainted from sheer lack of food. But she had on at the time 
$150 worth of new clothing! 

Williams^ has called attention to three interesting phases of 
the matter of display among workmen. ''Where a man can 
show by his house or by his flivver or by other of his possessions 
that he is 'getting on,' a very definite value is given to earning 

1 W. Williams, What's on the Worker's Mind, 1920, p. 124f., 273ff. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 45 

the wherewithal. But in a community where no house can be 
bought — because the town may not be there a few years later — 
and where the roads may be too bad for a flivver, then the other 
way of indicating the status of a self-respecting man who is 'as 
good as the next one' would seem to be by that of 'conspicuous 
leisure;'^ which is obtained, not in the ordinary way of working, 
earning, and then buying, but by not working — by walking out 
of the mine at two o'clock while some other chap is so much a 
dub of a worker that, in order to make a living, he has to stay in 
till the day is ended at four." 

Again he writes, "This revolting filth of speech is the most dis- 
appointing thing I have found in my travels. But I am still 
sure it is connected with long hours and with the difficulty a 
worker has in expressing in his work his individuality and in 
feeling himself progressing — that, together with the necessity 
of his showing himself as good as the next man in whatever lines 
of competition may be set up in this group . . . Apparently, 
the attractivenss of whiskey is that it offers one way of fulfilling 
the wishes of sobriety — a false fulfillment of those hopes which 
remain so difficult of fulfillment under actual conditions. In 
that case the man who drinks is at least continuing to dream of 
and hope for those fulfillments — and so to possess, still, some- 
thing of a mainspring or motive for his upbuilding, provided its 
escapement can be better controlled and directed." 

Snobbery, to which we are all addicted more or less, is another 
way of expressing display, of asserting superiority and calling for 
approval. Poor grammar, improper eating habits, lack of mem- 
bership in a fraternal order, wearing clothes out of style, etc., 
ad infinitum, are the grounds on which we push our fellows down 
and thereby elevate ourselves. And because none of us likes 
to be disapproved of, we devote a great deal of attention to these 
''little" things and often worry more about them than about 
really important matters. Many a woman cannot forget her 
failure to leave the proper .cards on some occasion, although she 
is quite oblivious to the fact that she has injured another's reputa- 
tion by her gossip on the same occasion. Cheating at cards and 
non-payment of gambling debts are damned among men, although 
it may be considered only a joke to defraud a tradesman. 

* See T. B. Veblen's very interesting discussion of this subject in his 
Theory of the Leisure Class, 1912. 



46 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Ambition. — ''Hawkins^ has defined ambition in much the way 
that most of us view it in connection with ourselves. He says: 
"We want to make names for ourselves, to earn plenty of money 
for our needs, and to have the gratification of consciousness that 
our life work is of real benefit to our fellowmen." Webster's 
Dictionary gives the definition of ambition much more as we 
see it exemplified in others — i. e., "an eager, and sometimes an 
inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, superiority, power, or 
the attainment of something." We would do those things 
which would make others look up to us with approval; we want 
to experience the enjoyment resulting from approval and 
submission. 

''But life is very complex, and there are many ways by which 
we may obtain such gratification. The writer knew a man years 
ago who was perfectly willing to work at common labor, although 
he could do better work, and to allow his wife to run a boarding 
house to maintain the family. He had no ambition to earn more 
money or to keep his wife in comfort. His whole mastering 
instinct was concentrated on playing checkers, on winning in that 
game, on being looked up to as the best checker-player in town. 
And apparently he secured enough gratification from such success 
as to satisfy him, even though during most of the day he had to 
assume a submissive attitude toward others. 

" No one, not even the President of the United States, can be a 
real leader in every respect. Consequently, we all very rapidly 
establish certain standards for judging our worth. We say to 
ourselves, 'I don't pretend to know anything about this thing or 
that. Let those who do get all that's coming to them. But I will 
succeed along this line. I'll make people recognize my worth 
here.' And so a hardware dealer may never have a thought of 
competing for distinction with his dentist or the minister or the 
circuit judge. But every act of his rival around the corner is 
watched with the greatest interest, with either secret gratification 
at his errors or great dissatisfaction and worry over his successes. 
This same hardware merchant may also be ambitious in Sunday- 
school work. There, again, every act of those he looks upon as 
rivals becomes of tremendous importance. "^ 

Rivalry is a definite form of ambition in which one endeavors 

1 N. A. Hawkins, The Selling Process, 1918, p. 18. 

^ E. K. Strong, Jr., Psychology of Selling Life Insurance, 1922, p. 119ff. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 47 

to surpass another. It is essentially based on the fighting in- 
stinct, but modified by the self-assertive instinct. ''It differs 
from the combative impulse in that it does not prompt to, and 
does not find satisfaction in, the destruction of the opponent. 
Rather, the continued existence of the rival, as such, but as a 
conquered rival, seems necessary for its full satisfaction; and a 
benevolent condescension towards the conquered rival is not 
incompatible with the activity of the impulse, as it is with that 
of the combative impulse."^ Thus, in a game of chess one player 
will often insist that his opponent take back a move whereby 
the opponent's queen would be captured. Victory is not desired 
except when one. has really won. The best form of rivalry is 
shown by many a scientist or engineer today who gives up his 
secrets as fast as he discovers them, desiring only a reputation 
for success. This desire to surpass others is used, of course, in 
countless ways in the schoolroom. It is fine for the child who can 
win even occasionally, but hard on the child who always loses. 

Construction — Workmanship. — The desire to do constructive 
work is essentially a form of rivalry. Many writers contend 
that there are instinctive tendencies to construct things, or to 
work, and particularly to take pleasure in the products of one's 
work. But the point of view of the writer of this book is that 
there are no such original tendencies, but that these are various 
ways in which an individual strives to secure approval and to 
lead others. Small children show, if anything, a tendency to 
destroy, to tear apart — not to put together. They must be 
taught to do constructive things. And here they tend to con- 
struct only so far as to secure attention, and favorable attention 
at that. Paper dolls may be cut out in a most ragged way, but 
if the other girls do not do any better, and the mother beams with 
interest, the performance is allowed to pass. But if the standard 
of perfection is higher, then the work must be done better or there 
is no reward for it — reward being the favorable attention given 
it by others. 

Good and Bad Types of Leadership. — Leadership in the past 
has been gained by self-assertion and fighting, by adventure 
and conquest. Competition between one company and another, 
one labor union and another, between capital and labor, and 
between one country and another, has been and still is to a 

1 W. McDougall, op. ciL, p. 116ff. 



48 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

considerable extent carried on because of the sheer satisfaction 
of securing and maintaining domination of others. The scholar 
or scientist represents a different ideal in leadership. He does 
not aim to manipulate or dominate others but to advance the 
frontiers of knowledge and apply what is learned so as to benefit 
mankind. Much more of such achievement should be taught 
in school in order to inculcate such an attitude in the coming 
generations. In the words of Schwab, the new type of leader is 
''not the man who substitutes his own will and his own brains 
for the will and intelligence of the crowd, but the one who releases 
the energies within the crowd so that the will of the crowd can 
be expressed." Baker, commenting on this statemjent, writes, 
"His view corresponds closely with that of the foremost thinkers 
upon industrial reconstruction both here and in Europe ; and that 
is, that these are vast undeveloped resources of knowledge, 
energy and creative genius in the human factor in industry; 
and that the next great step forward in civilization will consist 
in releasing this knowledge, energy, genius of the great masses of 
the worker."^ Here is a challenge for the teacher and the 
psychologist ! 

Man Wants to be Submissive. — According to Thorndike^ 
we make the abasive response when we meet a human being who 
is larger than ourselves or of angry and mastering aspect. 
''When weak from wounds, sickness and fatigue, the tendency 
is stronger. The man who is bigger, who can out-yell and out- 
stare us, who can hit us without our hitting him, and who can 
keep us from moving, does originally extort a crestfallen, abashed 
physique and mind." These stimuli are added to from experi- 
ence so that in adult life we are very apt to show submission to 
superiority of any kind whether of physical size, of mental ability, 
of social standing, or of wealth and power. And we do this in 
response not only to real indications of these things but to any- 
thing that suggests them. So we submit to the loudly dressed 
man or the occupant of a large auto although the former may be a 
street-car motorman off duty and the latter may have squan- 
dered all his earnings for a ride. 

The response to these stimuli seems to express itself in a slink- 
ing, crestfallen behavior, a general diminution of muscular tone, 

1 R. S. Baker, The New Industrial Unrest, 1920, p. 166f. 

2 E. L. Thorndike, op. cU., p. 92fe. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 49 

slow, retarded movements, a hanging-down of the head, and 
sidelong glances.^ 

This instinct to be submissive to others is possibly the hardest 
of all to understand, just because none of us like to admit that 
we are submissive. But we are, and the most surprising part 
of it is that we obtain great satisfaction therefrom. Hero- 
worship is of this mode of behavior. That we enjoy. So do we 
enjoy following a real leader, such as Roosevelt. 

The more thoroughly we approve of a leader, the more we will 
approve any action of that leader. This explains why we often 
have been very much annoyed afterwards when we came to 
realize that what we had approved was not in agreement with 
our customary standards. If the leader goes too far, we may 
not approve, but if we have been truly submissive to him, we 
may not show our disapproval, but keep quiet or walk away. 
Because of this many a dominating politician or labor-leader 
controls groups of men even at the polls, while they secretly 
damn him for his immoral or unfair conduct. 

As one is always submissive to the group to which he belongs, 
he always enjoys praise from it. But he may become most re- 
sentful if the same praise comes from a group which he looks 
down upon. 

Stage-fright is a striking example of submissiveness to the 
group. This appears in milder form, as nervousness, when one 
stands out from among the group in any way. Teachers are all 
familiar with the effect of number in the class upon the willing- 
ness and even ability of the students to stand up and recite. 
Nearly everyone can and will talk in a round-table seminar. 
But few will volunteer in a class of fifty and practically none will 
do so in a class of one hundred. The average individual so 
desires to do what the crowd does, and is so submissive to the 
group as a whole, that he is uncomfortable when he does other- 
wise, and in many cases is actually afraid to assert himself or to 
correct erroneous opinions against the crowd. Even the seK- 
assertive man allows many things to go unchallenged rather 
than face the crowd, rationalizing his action on the ground that 
the point was irrelevant to the issue at hand. 

This submissiveness of the individual to a group is one of the 
strongest factors underlying cooperation, causing unity of action 

1 W. McDougall, op. ciL, p. 64f. 
4 



50 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

of all in the group. Herein lies the tremendous strength of pub- 
lic opinion as it is variously presented through the press, the 
pulpit, the school and everyday contact with others. What 
others say and do quickly becomes law when we realize that 
many hold the same view. In this way the citizens of the United 
States became banded together after War was declared because 
everyone was doing the same thing. It is this same principle 
that explains the strength of superstition, social etiquette, cus- 
toms, the moral law, and ideals held by the group. To stand out 
against them is to stand up against the group and usually to 
court disapproval. On the other hand, agreement gives us a 
sense of security and the sweet pleasure of being one with the 
group. Pillsbury has very aptly summarized all this when he 
writes, ''Certain men, the leaders, can give a reason, if not the 
reason, for a particular belief; some contrary-minded individuals 
are spurred to skepticism by the prevalence of any doctrine; but 
the great majority accept their beliefs from the parson, from the 
latest book, or from a fashionable lecturer just as they take their 
hats from the best milliner. The attitude might be rationalized 
by saying, 'If all the best people accept it, it may be right; at 
least it saves thought, for, after all, nobody knows, and it is as 
well to be in good company.' "^ 

Shyness, Bashfulness, Self -consciousness. — "Shyness seems to 
consist chiefly in hesitancy and restraint of movement (most 
easily noticed in speech), lowering of eyes, and averted face." 
Thorndike suggests that "it may be submissive behavior minus 
the gross bodily cringing, and the inner acceptance of subser- 
viency, and that it occurs as what is left of the response of sub- 
missive behavior when the condition of the person responding, or 
of the situation to which he responds, possesses elements which 
inhibit these. Thus when a powerful and hostile crowd would 
provoke submission in toto, a mere crowd or a fairly friendly 
crowd provokes shyness, and the speaker simply cannot look 
at them squarely or speak naturally. "^ 

Bashfulness, or self-consciousness, is the resultant of a situa- 
tion which simultaneously arouses both the self-assertive and 

^ W. B. Pillsbury, The Psychology of Nationality and Internationalism, 
1919, p. 36. 

2 E. L. Thorndike, op. cit., p. 94ff. See also, W. McDougall, op. cit., p. 
150ff. 



34 FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL WANTS 51 

submissive instincts. Thus in the case of Sam and Mabel (see 
Lesson 1), Sam was bashful because he wanted to show off and 
assert himself (sex instinct), but at the same time felt unaccus- 
tomed emotional disturbances within himself which upset him 
and made him very conscious of himself. Bashfulness is thus the 
unpleasant struggle within the individual tending to respond in 
these two opposing ways. Consequently the individual one 
moment may do nothing (both forces checking each other), 
the next moment retreat or hide, as the little child hides in 
his mother's dress, and the next moment show off. 

Bashfulness, shyness, or stage-fright are overcome through 
becoming accustomed to the situations which cause them. They 
seem to be entirely overcome by many. Others never entirely 
conquer it. Such persons may suffer within, but they are able to 
control themselves so that no one suspects their emotional dis- 
turbance. The experiences of John Hay, one of our greatest 
Secretaries of State, are thus described: ''Speech-making, even 
when he had his manuscript before him, was always an ordeal. 
In composing, he alternated between buoyancy and depression; 
first, the hot fit, when ideas flamed into his mind; then, the cold 
fit, when he read over what.he had written and the words seemed 
gray and bleak and cold. He suffered by anticipation the misery 
of stage-fright. But once on the platform, although nervous to 
the end, he rarely failed to win the audience. This success came 
always as a surprise to him, and he used to chronicle it in his 
notes to his friends, not out of conceit, but as a bit of unexpected 
news which might surprise them too. 'Luckily,' he once said, 
'the shakes go to my knees and not to my voice.' "^ 

Play 

Play is not a single instinct. The term covers those activities 
of children and even adults which are carried on for their own 
sake and not deliberately for some future gain. Possibly the 
chief cause of play is the development of more energy than is 
needed with the attendant want to use it up. Sick children play 
little or not at all for this reason. The instictive side of play is 
then sheer activity plus responding to prepotent stimuli and in 
some cases ''hunting" for such stimuli. The specific activities 

^ W. R. Thayer, Life and Letters of John Hay, Vol. I, p. 43 If. 



52 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

in play are mostly learned from one's fellows. Because it makes 
little difference to the average child what he does so long as he 
is active and securing approval, it behooves the educator to 
supply useful activities so as to crowd out useless and vicious 
ones. The Boy Scout movement is an excellent illustration of 
such substitution. Not only should education include such useful 
substitutions for child life but also it should prepare children 
to play in an enjoyable and useful manner when adults. 
One of the tragedies of adult life today is the inability of so 
many to play. 



LESSON 35 

FUNDAMENTAL WANTS (continued) 

Get acquainted with one or more of the references given below, 
using the time usually devoted to a laboratory lesson. As you 
read what other writers have to say on the subject of man's 
instincts or native wants, fit the material into the contents of the 
lessons in this text as well as you can; and so work up your own 
list of man's native wants. 

REFERENCES 

W. B. Cannon, Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear, and Rage, 1915. 
H. Marot, The Creative Impulse in Industry, 1918. 
W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1918. 
C. S. Parker, An American Idyll, 1919, Chaps. VIII to XVI. 
W. B. Pillsbury, Psychology of Nationalism and Internationalism, 1919. 
J. A. Puffer, The Boy and His Gang, 1912. 

W. H. R. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, 1920, Chaps, VI, VII. 
A. G. Tansley, The New Psychology, 1920, Part VI. 
F. W. Taussig, Inventors and Money-Makers, 1915. 
O. Tead, Instincts in Industry, 1918. 
E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. I. 
W. Trotter, Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War, 1918. 
J. B. Watson, Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist, 1919, Chaps. 
VI, VII. • 
R. S. Woodworth, Dynamic Psychology, 1918 
R. S. Woodworth, Psychology, 1921, Chaps. V to VIII. 



53 



LESSON 36 
ACQUIRED WANTS 

Dissatisfaction is, as we have seen, a primary cause for making 
new adjustments to our environment. For, when dissatisfied, 
man ceases doing what he is doing and does something else. 
And he continues making one response after another until 
exhausted or until satisfaction is obtained. A half-grown cat 
has about three wants : To eat, to use up excess energy and to 
sleep. These wants are satisfied one after the other, and that is 
all there is to life. If food is hard to find all the excess energy 
may be used up in hunting food, and the three wants are thus 
reduced to two: Finding and eating food, and sleeping. Man 
has many more wants than a half-grown cat. In fact, he has so 
many that it is well-nigh impossible to satisfy them all. Con- 
sequently, he is ever on the move, doing this and that, sometimes 
quite contented because his wants are pretty well satisfied, as 
just after a good meal; but more often rather discontented, 
because one or more wants are arousing dissatisfaction and 
restlessness. 

What man does in life is dependent on the driving power of 
his wants, on his abilities and on the elements in his environment. 
For when he is restless from the lack of satisfaction -of wants 
he moves about responding to one stimulus after another in his 
environment. If the appropriate stimulus, which will lead him 
to act in a satisfying way, is not present, then he will not 
satisfy his want. As Cattell once expressed it, ''What man can 
be depends on his heredity (his wants and abilities) ; what he 
may be depends on his environment." 

In attempting to escape from many dissatisfying conditions 
man comes to make the same responses again and again. So he 
goes to the spring or the faucet when thirsty, puts on gloves to 
keep his hands warm, wears a collar to secure approval, etc., etc. 
These responses are first made to escape from dissatisfaction. 
But after they have been repeated many times they are no longer 

54 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 55 

viewed as ways to escape from dissatisfaction but rather as adjust- 
ments that are necessary in themselves. Under such conditions 
one tends to forget all about the original want and the dissatis- 
faction of not satisfying it, to overlook the fact that the habit has 
been acquired, and to pay little or no attention to the response 
that is made, but instead to be very conscious of the object and 
to view it as the whole of the want. So a woman who has 
struggled with sewing by hand, and then has used a sewing- 
machine for years, feels hardly at all the original want which was 
eliminated by the machine, and thinks little about the new 
methods of sewing, but does view the machine as a necessity. 
Only when the machine gets out of order does she realize how 
indispensable it has become, and even then most of her attention 
is directed to repairing the machine. The machine itself, in 
other words, now stands in her mind very largely as a substitute 
for all that has led up to its discovery and use. So shoes are 
bought today with hardly a thought of the want to keep our feet 
warm, dry, and free from cuts. We merely reflect that the old 
pair is becoming worn out and we must have new ones. More- 
over, the shoes are wanted so that we shall appear well before 
others. So we buy a new pair in order to satisfy the want for 
approval rather than to satisfy that original want which undoubt- 
edly led to the invention of shoes. Most of us view a bathtub 
as a necessity. We would not rent a house that lacked one. 
We can hardly comprehend the original want which led Adam 
Thompson in 1842 to invent this convenience, nor can we readily 
understand why a certain city in 1845 made it unlawful to use 
one, except on medical advice! 

This peculiarity of mental activity, which transfers attention 
from the original want to the object that has come to satisfy it, 
is responsible for many false explanations of conduct. Many 
assume that "gain of money" is the primary motive in life — that 
men work for money, and that money will buy anything. But 
as a matter of fact, money is desirable only because it stands as a 
symbol for the satisfaction of certain wants. Countless stories 
have been told of negroes who during the War accumulated 
a hundred dollars and then refused to work at any price until 
that money had been spent. All of us can illustrate this point 
from our own experience. But still the philosophy of the age 
is that money is supreme among all of man's motives. Another 



56 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

motive often called primary is the ''gain of utility." But the 
struggle here is not primarily to gain, but rather to eliminate some 
dissatisfaction; the ''useful" object gained is useful only insofar 
as it aids in satisfying a want — it is never wanted just because 
it is a " utility" in the abstract. Few actually want an education 
until they have discovered in the struggle of life that without it 
they cannot satisfy their wants for prestige, power, influence, and 
leadership. Then they come to want this tool, this means of 
satisfying their inborn desires. By that time it is often too late, 
and then they struggle to give their children an education which 
the latter are sometimes reluctant to take, just because they do 
not yet feel any want for it. 

Many acquired wants are accepted as we find them. So the 
child of today uses electric lights, phonographs, telephones, gas 
ranges, bicycles and automobiles. He cannot even conceive 
of a world without them. They are necessities which he uses 
in satisfying the same wants that his ancestors felt a thousand 
years ago but which were satisfied — if at all — by the use of other 
tools. But the child and the adult also acquire many new wants 
in their attempts to eliminate dissatisfaction. For example: 
The store bow and arrow of a neighbor are reproduced out of the 
best wood at hand; the school lesson is solved by mental manipu- 
lations or through the mother's help, depending upon circum- 
stances; the circus is visited, and punishment for playing hookey 
is averted by means of a forged excuse; the desire to amuse a 
child leads to the making of a Kiddy-Kar; and the annoyances 
and loss of business because of traffic-jams are eliminated by 
condemning buildings and widening a street. 

Acquired wants thus develop out of man's original wants and 
his environmental conditions. Because of his wants he looks 
for solutions. From among all the elements of his environment 
he selects that which is best fitted to satisfy his want. Thus if 
he wants to drive to a certain part of the city, his energies are 
directed toward selecting streets which have the best pavements 
and least traffic. But if he wants to rent a house he drives along 
other streets, going much more slowly and with his eyes set to 
see "For Rent" signs. The same is true in school. The child 
selects out of his geography lesson those elements which will 
best satisfy the wants he has in mind at the time. The best 
teacher is the one who arouses within the child those wants which 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 57 

can be satisfied only by the essential and important elements of 
the lesson. 

Motives 

In Lesson 32 we attempted to answer the question, "Why do 
you attempt to solve this assignment?" And in doing so two 
kinds of answers were obtained. The first kind were reasons or 
explanations of why this was done rather than something else, 
statements of how the changes were to be accomplished. The 
second kind were wants or expressions of dissatisfactions that 
were to be changed into satisfactions. 

A motive includes, then, both these elements. The cause of 
activity is a want, the cause of a particular activity is explained 
by reasons. In the absence of wants, man is inert, listless. 
With wants present he is alive, ready to act. His activity will 
depend largely upon his past experiences and his present environ- 
ment. Because man is to so great an extent unconcerned with 
his wants, as such, and because he is so largely concerned in 
deciding between doing this and that in order to secure satisfac- 
tion, he very naturally explains his motives in terms of reasons. 
But as we have seen, such explanations are only partial answers; 
they do not go far enough. 

Because man transfers his attention from the original want to 
the means of satisfying it, it is quite proper to speak of these 
means as acquired wants. For example, a young man wants to 
see his fiancee in a distant city. To do so he must work in order 
to get money to pay his expenses. Work and money are both 
means of satisfying the fundamental want: They are therefore 
wanted. But they are only secondary wants — acquired wants. 
And at the same time they are reasons. For, if the young man is 
asked "Why do you do this?" he replies, "I must work. I must 
earn money." They are explanations of why he does the partic- 
ular job. Reasons express, then, what man has learned about 
his environment and himself that forces him to secure his wants 
in one way instead of another. 

Some Examples of Redirection of Original Wants 

The discussion so far has proceeded on the assumption that 
man's original wants remain unchanged throughout life. In 
one sense this is true. They remain operative until senility 



58 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

approaches, and then some of them gradually weaken. But 
in another sense, it is not true. Man's wants are redirected in 
many ways. He learns, for example, to eat olives, oysters, and 
evil-smelling cheese which as a child he would not touch. He 
insists on niceties of etiquette, and feels keenly his failures to 
observe them — types of behavior which would have been incom- 
prehensible to him as a child. In the struggle to adjust himself 
to his environment and obtain satisfaction, man's original wants 
are greatly modified. Let us consider certain of these changes. 

Modification of Fighting Instinct. — We see this instinct opera- 
tive in its simplest and least modified form in the behavior of the 
small boy. He loves to fight. A good share of his time is spent 
in bullying his sisters and girl friends, in wresthng and ''play" 
fighting; and, when occasion arises, in the genuine article. 
Except when his behavior really interferes with the rights and 
happiness of others he should be allowed to develop as a little 
savage. For all men are likely to meet situations in life when 
they need to fight, and unless they have had experience they will 
be more or less helpless, or quite likely act the part of a coward. 

The first step in modifying an instinct is to allow it to function 
(if that is socially possible). In this way the boy comes con- 
sciously to understand the instinct. Otherwise he can never be 
sure what he will do when it is aroused. All this means, in the 
case of the fighting instinct, that the boy should be allowed to 
know the sweet joy of ''licking" another boy and — what is 
equally important — to experience defeat. Without all this a well 
rounded character can hardly emerge. 

The next step is the elimination of many of the stimuli that 
cause fighting. Boys are taught not to fight girls, or smaller 
or weaker boys; also that fighting should be reserved for self- 
defence and in behalf of others who need protection. All this 
instruction he gets from his women-folks primarily, and from his 
men-folks in exceptional cases. The stories of great heroes and 
the examples of men and older boys are also factors in this 
instruction. 

At the gang age^ boys gradually come to fight for principles. 
For example, in early life boys play baseball 10% of the 
time and fight with fist (or mouth) 90%. As they 
grow older the fighting decreases and the playing increases. 

1 J. A. Puffer, The Boy and His Gang, 1912. 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 59 

During this period each gang works out rules which govern the 
action of all. As the rules become more and more recognized 
as aids to playing, they are fought for more and more. 

After the rules of baseball or any other game have been thus 
established as necessary means for maintaining continuous play, 
the desire for an umpire appears. When this stage has been 
reached, the boy is ready to be taught, and able to understand, 
the theory of government, which rests upon rules determined by 
the majority and enforced by officials appointed for the purpose. 
So boys can be led to appreciate and respect our courts, interstate 
commerce commissions, national treaties, and the idea of a league 
of nations. Thus the fighting instinct of the Anglo-Saxon, the 
great game-playing nations, is redirected on the fields of Eton 
and on every back-lot in America, away from continual resistance 
to interference, and toward defence of established rules. The 
Mexican boy, who gets no such training, does not later accept 
an election as does an Anglo-Saxon. 

But the fighting instinct is modified not only with respect to 
the stimuli that arouse it, but also with respect to the responses 
that are made. The first substitution that takes place is to use 
the mouth instead of the fists. Then there come many other 
changes which only some men acquire. Debating is a modifica- 
tion of mouth-fighting. The profession of law is another such 
modification. And the employment of lawyers to fight for us 
is still another. The use of Robert's Rules of Order is a useful 
modification for organized groups. And so we might extend this 
discussion into the realms of politics, business, and all of life, and 
show that man has learned many, many ways of resisting inter- 
ference and getting his way besides the instinctive method of 
using fists. These methods are of social value and should be 
encouraged and taught as part of our regular educational pro- 
cedure and not left so entirely to the play life. 

The true man of today is not looking for an opportunity to fight 
with his fists. His instinctive behavior has been changed too 
much for that. But he dearly loves to engage with others in 
a fight for some principle. Prohibition, vigilance work in adver- 
tising, pure-food movements, political campaigns, meeting the 
quota for one's city in a Liberty Loan — all these and many more 
appeal tremendously. Men love to overcome difficulties — the 
greater, the better. And when help is needed, if enthusiasm is 



60 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

to be aroused, the difficulties should be played up, rather than the 
certainty of victory. Only victory won after a struggle is worth 
while and it brings a reward in man's instinctive life sufficient 
to compensate for the effort expended. 

Modification of the Parental Instinct. — There are other modi- 
fications besides those pointed out in Lesson 34, but there is room 
here to mention only two. First, the parental instinct is the 
basis of altruistic behavior. All other instincts lead to action 
which benefits the individual himself, but in the case of the 
parental instinct the action is of more benefit to the child than 
to the parent. But it is also true that the parent cares for the 
child because he has to, because he obtains great satisfaction 
therefrom and simply cannot refrain from doing so. Woman, 
in particular, is truly uncomfortable at the sight or sound of 
suffering of all sorts, not only in children but also in adults and 
in animals. So it is in order to ease her own suffering, that she 
stops the small boy from holding the cat up by the tail. And 
out of this have grown our Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals, and to Children, and much of our legislation pro- 
hibiting child labor. Hospitals, reformatories, orphan and insane 
asylums, the Red Cross, and many reforms such as prohibition, 
pure food laws, and sanitation, are the outgrowth of this parental 
instinct. Christ in the Parable of the Good Samaritan showed 
that being a good neighbor or a good citizen consisted in being a 
father or mother to those in need. His teaching has helped 
through twenty centuries to redirect this instinct, so that sick 
adults as well as crying babies have been reacted to with tender- 
ness and care. Possibly the loftiest expression of this directed 
instinct is to be found in St. Paul's famous chapter commencing 
" Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have 
not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." 

The second modification is that appearing in moral indignation, 
which is a combination of the fighting and the parental instincts. 
For example, if A sees B injuring C, A reacts toward B in terms 
of anger and toward C in terms of tender emotion. Or A may 
react toward D in terms of both emotions if D has done wrong 
worthy of punishment. So of late society has been showing 
anger toward the criminal and has insisted on punishing him, but 
at the same time has experienced tender emotion toward him 
and has endeavored to reclaim him. "Paradoxical as it may 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 61 

seem, beneficence and punishment alike have their firmest and 
most essential root in the parental instinct."^ This combination 
largely accounts for our social order. For justice and law have 
gradually developed out of the inability of men to stand injustive 
any longer. In such cases today we often see men and women 
playing slightly different roles. Usually it is the woman who stirs 
up people and inaugurates the crusade. Then when a ''good 
fight" has been started man becomes interested and carries it on 
far beyond the point to which the woman's concern brought her 
instinctively. 

Development of a Sentiment 

On passing a pretty baby one smiles and feels good. In a few 
moments the tender emotion that was aroused has faded out. 
A sudden fright is similarly dismissed. So it is with the emotions 
aroused in a purely instinctive way. But man possesses certain 
emotional dispositions that continue. Love and hate are good 
examples; one loves or hates another over long periods of time. 
Whenever the individual is met or thought of this emotional 
disposition is immediately aroused. This is what Shand means 
when he says, ''A sentiment is an organized system of emo- 
tional tendencies centred about some object."^ Hart has given 
us another definition: "a system of emotionally toned ideas. "^ 
The two definitions refer to the same thing, but the first one 
emphasizes the emotional aspect whereas the second emphasizes 
the ideational aspect. Let us note how a sentiment may arise. 

A stranger was entertained by a friend at his club for lunch. 
While eating he asked, ''Why did a city develop here at Pitts- 
burgh?" Several explained it by the amount of coal found in 
these parts, and by the transportation facilities afforded by the 
confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers forming 
the Ohio. At this point the stranger awkwardly spilt the soup 
into his lap, and was immediately filled with chagrin and the 
emotion accompanying the submissive instinct. On his return 
home, and on being asked what he thought of Pittsburgh, he 
replied with derogatory remarks, complaining of the water, the 
police system, the hotels, etc. 

1 W. McDougall, Social Psychology, 1918, p. 75; see also Chapter X. 

2 Quoted in W. McDougall, op. cit, p. 126. 

^ B. Hart, Psychology of Insanity, 1912, p. 61. 



62 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Interpreting this psychologically we may say that at the mo- 
ment that he spilt the soup he was gathering ideas about Pitts- 
burgh. The soup-spilling accident occasioned an unpleasant 
emotion which in this case became firmly associated with the 
idea of Pittsburgh. The combination resulted in a sentiment. 
Later when Pittsburgh was recollected the incident with its 
unpleasant emotion also came to mind. Consequently the 
clumsy visitor disliked Pittsburgh. He could not say to his 
friends: '^I dislike Pittsburgh because I made a fool of myself 
and spilt soup in my lap at a club luncheon." He had to give 
explanations that would sound reasonable and would not injure 
himself, but he had to express the unpleasant sentiment within 
him. Most of the derogatory, ''catty" remarks we make are 
expressions of dislike of somebody who has injured our pride in 
some way. 

McDougall explains love and hate as follows: When a man 
loves or hates another, ''he is liable to experience any one of a 
number of emotions and feelings on contemplating that other, 
the nature of the emotion depending upon the situation of the 
other." So, "when a man has acquired the sentiment of love 
for a person or other object, he is apt to experience tender emo- 
tion in its presence, fear or anxiety when it is in danger, anger 
when it is threatened, sorrow when it is lost, joy when the object 
prospers or is restored to him, gratitude towards him who does 
good to it, and so on; and, when he hates a person, he experiences 
fear or anger or both on his approach, joy when that other is 
injured, anger when he receives favors." 

McDougall adds: " It is, I think, helpful, at least to those who 
make use of visual imagery, to attempt to picture a sentiment as 
a nervous disposition and to schematise it crudely by the aid of a 
diagram. Let us draw a number of circles lying in a row, and 
let each circle stand for one of the primary emotional dispositions 
(Plate XXXVII). We are to suppose that the excitement of 
each one of these is accompanied by the corresponding emotion 
with its specific impulse. These dispositions must be regarded 
as natively independent of one another, or unconnected. Let A 
be the object of a sentiment of hate and B be the object of a 
sentiment of love; and let a in our diagram stand for the complex 
neural disposition whose excitement underlies the idea or presen- 
tation of A, and let (3 be the corresponding disposition concerned 



36 



ACQUIRED WANTS 



63 



in the presentation of B. Then we must suppose that a becomes 
intimately connected with R, F, and P, the central nuclei of the 
instincts of repulsion, fear, and pugnacity, and less intimately 
with C and S, those of curiosity and of submission, but not at 
all with T, the central nucleus of the tender or parental instinct. 
Whenever, then, a comes into play (i. e., whenever the idea of A 
rises to consciousness) its excitement tends to spread at once to 
all these dispositions; and we must suppose that they are thrown 
into a condition of subexcitement which very easily rises to dis- 




Plate XXXVII. — Diagram to illustrate the neural bases of the sentiments 
of hate and love. A is the object of the sentiment of hate, B that of the 
sentiment of love; a. and j3 are the neural dispositions whose excitement accom- 
panies presentations or ideas of A and B respectively; a is connected with the 
affective-conative dispositions R, F, P, C, S, and /3 with T, A, S, C, P, F, with 
degrees of intimacy indicated by the thicknesses of the connecting lines. The 
letters of the lower row stand for the names of the instincts, as follows: — R = 
Repulsion, F = Fear, P = Pugnacity, C = Curiosity, S = Subjection, A = Self- 
assertion, T = Parental instinct. (McDougall's diagram slightly modified here.) 

charging point in any one of them, or in several of them together 
— e. g., in P and R, when the emotional state of the subject 
becomes one of mingled anger and disgust, and the impulses of 
these two emotions determine his actions, attitudes, and expres- 
sions. Similarly /3 must be supposed to be connected most inti- 
mately with T, the disposition of the tender emotion, and less 
intimately with A, S, C, P, and F and not at all with R. If this 
diagram represents the facts however crudely and inadequately, 
we may say that the structural basis of the sentiment is a system 



64 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

of nerve-paths by means of which the disposition of the idea of the 
object of the sentiment is functionally connected with several 
emotional dispositions. The idea, taken in the usual sense of the 
word as something that is stored in the mind, may therefore be 
said to be the essential nucleus of the sentiment, without which 
it cannot exist, and through the medium of which several emo- 
tional dispositions are connected together to form a functional 
system. The emotional dispositions comprised within the 
system of any sentiment are, then, not directly connected 
together; and, in accordance with the law of forward conduction, 
the excitement of any one of them will not spread backwards to 
the cognitive dispositions, but only in the efferent direction, as 
indicated by the arrows in the diagram. Hence any one such 
disposition may become an organic constitutent of an indefinitely 
large number of sentiments."^ 

The Self-regarding Sentiment 

The question can now be raised : How does man come to act 
in terms of an ideal of conduct and not in terms (1) of mere pain 
and pleasure, or (2) of the influence of rewards and punishments, 
or (3) of the anticipation of social praise and blame? 

In this introductory course only certain aspects of the subject 
may be pointed out in attempting an answer to the question. 
The student who is interested should read, e. g., McDougalFs 
Social Psychology. 

McDougall holds that ideal conduct arises from the self-regard- 
ing sentiment, which has two varieties — pride and self-respect. 

Pride. — The development of this sentiment can be exemplified 
as follows: '' Imagine the son of a powerful and foolish prince to 
be endowed with great capacities and to have in great strength 
the instinct of self-display with its emotion of positive self- 
feeling. Suppose that he is never checked or corrected, or criti- 
cised, but is allowed to lord it over all his fellow-creatures without 
restraint. The self-regarding sentiment of such a child would 
almost necessarily take the form of an unshakable pride, a pride 
constantly gratified by the attitudes of deference, gratitude, and 
admiration, of his social environment; the only dispositions that 
would become organized in this sentiment of pride would be thos6 
of positive self-feeling or elation and of anger (for his anger would 

1 W. McDougall, op. ciL, p. 127ff. 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 65 

be invariably excited when any one failed to assume towards 
him the attitude of subjection or deference). His self-conscious- 
ness might be intense and very prominent, but it would remain 
poor in content; for he could make little progress in self-knowl- 
edge; he would have little occasion to hear, or to be interested in, 
the judgments of others upon himself; and he would seldom be 
led to reflect upon his own character and conduct. The only 
influences that could moralise a man so endowed and so brought 
up would be either religious teaching, which might give him the 
sense of a power greater than himself to whom he was accountable, 
or a very strong natural endowment of the tender emotion and 
its altruistic impulse, or a conjunction of these two influences. 

'' A man in whom the self -regarding sentiment had assumed this 
form would be incapable of being humbled — his pride could only 
be mortified; that is to say, any display of his own short comings 
or any demonstration of the superiority of another to himself 
could cause a painful check to his positive self -feeling and a con- 
sequent anger, but could give rise neither to shame nor to humilia- 
tion, nor to any affective state, such as admiration, gratitude, or 
reverence, in which negative self-feeling plays a part. And he 
would be indifferent to moral praise or blame ; for the disposition 
of negative self -feeling would have no place in his self -regarding 
sentiment; and negative self -feeling, which renders us observant 
of the attitudes of others towards ourselves and receptive towards 
their opinions, is one of the essential conditions of the influence 
of praise and blame upon us. 

" In many men whose moral training has been grossly defective, 
the self-regarding sentiment approximates to this type of pure 
pride; such men may revel in the admiration, flattery, and grati- 
tude of others, but they remain indifferent to moral approval; 
they may be painfully affected by scorn or ridicule, and but little 
by moral censure. And for most of us the admiration and the 
scorn or ridicule of others remain stronger spurs to our self- 
feeling than praise or blame, and still more so than mere approval 
and disapproval."^ 

Self-respect. — "The self -regarding sentiment of the man of 
normally developed moral nature differs from pride in that it 
comprises the disposition of negative self-feeling (emotion 
accompanying submissive instinct) as well as that of positive 

1 W. McDougall, op. cit., p. 197f. 

5 



66 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

self-feeling (emotion accompanying self-assertive instinct); it is 
the presence of this disposition within the sentiment that dis- 
tinguishes self-respect from pride. We have seen that negative 
self -feeling is normally evoked by the presence of any person who 
makes upon us an impression of power greater than our own, and 
that its impulse is to assume an attitude of submission towards 
that person, an attitude which becomes in the child, as his intel- 
lectual powers develop, an attitude of receptivity, of imitativeness 
and suggestibility. The main condition of the incorporation of 
this disposition in the self-regarding sentiment is the exercise of 
authority over the child by his elders. At first this authority 
necessarily demonstrates its superior power by means of physical 
force, later by means of rewards and punishments. On each 
occasion that the exercise of personal authority over the child 
makes him aware of a superior and inflexible power to which he 
must submit, his negative self-feeling is evoked; then his idea of 
self in relation to that person becomes habitually accompanied 
and suffused by this emotion in however slight a degree, and he 
habitually assumes towards that person the attitude of submis- 
sion. Thus the disposition of this emotion becomes incorporated 
in the self-regarding sentiment. Thereafter all persons fall, for 
the child, into one or other of two classes: in the one class are 
those who impress him as beings of superior power, who evoke his 
negative self-feeling, and towards whom he is submissive and 
receptive; in the other class are those whose presence evokes his 
positive self-feeling and towards whom he is self-assertive and 
masterful, just because they fail to impress him as beings superior 
to himself. As his powers develop and his knowledge increases, 
persons who at first belonged to the former class are transferred 
to the latter; he learns, or thinks he learns, the limits of their 
powers; he no longer shrinks from a contest with them, and, every 
time he gains the advantage in any such contest, their power of 
evoking his negative self-feeling diminishes, until it fails com- 
pletely. When that stage is reached his attitude towards them is 
reversed, it becomes self-assertive; for their presence evokes his 
positive self -feeling. In this way a child of good capacities, in 
whom the instinct of self-assertion is strong, works his way up the 
social ladder. Each of the wider social circles that he succes- 
sively enters — the circle of his playmates, of his school-fellows, of 
his college, of his profession — impresses him at first with a sense of 



1 



36 ACQUIRED WANTS 67 * 

a superior power, not only because each circle comprises individ- 
uals older than himself and of greater reputation, but also because 
each is in some degree an organized whole that disposes of a 
collective power whose nature and limits are at first unknown to 
the newly-admitted member. But within each such circle he 
rapidly finds his level, finds out those to whom he must submit 
and those toward whom he may be self-assertive. Thus, when 
he enters a great school, the sixth-form boys may seem to him 
god-like beings whose lightest word is law; and even the boys who 
have been but a little while in the school will at first impress him 
and evoke his negative self-feeling by reason of their familiarity 
with many things strange to him and in virtue of their assured 
share in the collective power of the whole society. But, when 
he himself has reached the sixth form, or perhaps is captain of the 
school, how completely reversed is this attitude of submissive 
receptivity! When he enters college, the process begins again; 
the fourth-year men, with their caps and their colors and acade- 
mic distinctions, are now his gods, and even the dons may 
dominate his imagination. But at the end of his fourth year, 
after a successful career in the schools and the playing fields, how 
changed again is his attitude towards his college society! The 
dons he regards with kindly tolerance, the freshmen with hardly 
disguised disdain; and very few remain capable of evoking his 
negative self -feeling — perhaps a ' blue,' or a 'rugger-international,' 
or a don of world-wide reputation; for the rest — he has compre- 
hended them, grasped their limits, labelled them, and dismissed 
them to the class that ministers to his positive self-feeling. And 
so he goes out into the great world to repeat the process and to 
carry it as far as his capacities enable him to do. 

''But if once authority, wielding punishment and reward, has 
awakened negative self -feeling and caused its incorporation in the 
self-regarding sentiment, that emotion may be readily evoked; 
and there is always one power that looms up vaguely and largely 
behind all individuals — the power of society as a whole — which, 
by reason of its indefinable vastness, is better suited than all 
others to evoke this emotion and this attitude. The child 
comes gradually to understand his position as a member of society 
indefinitely larger and more powerful than any circle of his 
acquaintances, a society which with a collective voice and irresisti- 
ble power distributes rewards and punishments, praise and blame, 



68 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

and formulates its approval and disapproval in universally 
accepted maxims. This collective voice appeals to the self- 
regarding sentiment, humbles or elates us, calls out our shame 
or self-satisfaction, with even greater effect than the personal 
authorities of early childhood, and gradually supplants them 
more and more. And, when any individual passes upon us a 
well-founded judgment of moral approval or disapproval, he 
wields this power; and, though he may be personally our inferior, 
his expressions may influence us profoundly, because we realize 
that his moral judgment voices the collective judgment of all- 
powerful society. 

''The exercise of inflexible authority over the child prevents, 
then, his self-regarding sentiment taking the form of pride in 
the strict sense, pride that acknowledges no superior, that knows 
no shame, and is indifferent to moral approval and disapproval; 
it gives the sentiment the form of a self-respect that is capable 
of humility, of the receptive imitative attitude of negative self- 
feeling; and, by so doing, it renders the developing individual 
capable of profiting by example and precept, by advice and exhor- 
tation, by moral approval and disapproval."^ 

iW. McDougall, op. ciL, p. 199ff. 



LESSON 37 
MAN»S WANTS (continued) 

Again employ the time usually devoted to the preparation of 
a laboratory lesson to the reading of assignments given in Lesson 
35. 

Consider the last ten full-page advertisements in the current 
number of The Saturday Evening Post. Write down the acquired 
wants that are to be satisfied by the commodities advertised for 
sale; and then, second, what the primary wants are that cause the 
acquired wants to be wants. (In this connection, recognize the 
fact that twenty-five years ago buggies were bought by many 
people. The automobile has now taken their place. The origi- 
nal wants of man have not changed during this quarter-century, 
but his acquired wants have.) 



69 



LESSON 38 
HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED 

We have seen how man learns to do any performance better 
and better and we have just seen what are the performances he 
naturally wants to do. But how does man hit upon the right 
response to a new situation to which he has no instinctive or 
habit-formed response? How does he come to turn to the right 
(or left) at a fork in the road? How does he solve an original 
in geometry? How does he decide a business difficulty? 

The mirror-drawing constituted a difficulty-situation. It 
was mastered by trial and error. Are all difficulties so mastered? 
What does one do when he thinks, or reasons out the solution to a 
difficulty or a problem? Is the process trial and error also, or 
is it something quite different? 

The term thinking, or reasoning, is usually reserved for mental 
processes showing a degree of originality, as contrasted with the 
rehearsal of a previously learned reaction. A new situation, 
which cannot be dealt with in a purely habitual way, offers the 
occasion for thinking, though it is not a guarantee that thinking 
will occur. 

The laboratory hour will be spent in solving a simple puzzle. 
The object this time is not so much to solve the puzzle as to dis- 
cover whether any mental process which we call reasoning is 
involved in solving it. Some persons will solve it without discov- 
ering a great deal about the general principles governing the 
solving process. Others who solve it but once or twice may learn 
a great deal about the matter. The difference between what 
different persons learn will depend upon how they analyze what 
they do. Consequently, try to solve the puzzle, but try far 
harder to discover what you do in solving it. Careful notes are 
necessary. 

Problem. — How is a difficulty solved? 

Apparatus. — A watch with a second hand. 

70 



38 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED 71 

Draw on a sheet of paper two parallel lines seven inches long 
and one inch apart. Then draw lines every inch connecting the 
two long lines together, thus producing a row of seven squares, 
one inch on a side. 

Obtain 2 sets of 6 small objects, such as 6 pennies, 6 dimes, 6 
buttons, 6 paper clips, etc. (Only 3 of each will be used at first.) 

Procedure. Part 1. — Place, say, a penny on each of the three 
left-hand squares and a dime on each of the three right-hand 
squares. The middle square of the seven is now unoccupied. 

The problem is now to so move the coins, one at a time as to 
bring all the dimes to where the pennies are now, and all the 
pennies to where the dimes are. The coins can be moved forward 
one place at a time, or they may be jumped over another coin. 
They may not be moved backward. 

Solve this puzzle ten times. Keep an exact record of the time 
required to solve it each time. Also make as complete a record 
as possible of what you did while solving it each time. That 
is, after each trial, write out as careful a description of your method 
of solving the puzzle as you can, the ideas that came into your mind, 
the movements you made, your feelings, etc. (If any trial consumes 
considerable time, it is well to take out time for recording your 
introspections, as otherwise they may be forgotten.) 

Part 2. — If you have time repeat the puzzle ten times, using a 
diagram of 13 squares instead of 7 squares, and using 6 men on a 
side instead of three. 

Results. — Plot your data in the form of curves. On the base 
line (horizontal line) indicate the successive trials and on the 
vertical line the time required to solve the puzzle. 

Record as accurately as you can just how you went to work to 
solve the puzzle, what you did, etc. 

Questions. — (1) What would you say are the processes involved 
in solving a difficulty? 

2. Did your procedure differ from that in the mirror-drawing 
experiment? 

3. Did you do any reasoning? 

4. How does reasoning differ from recall? Explain. 
Application. 



LESSON 39 
HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 

If the average man were asked the definition of a difficulty, he 
would reply by saying that it is something hard to do or under- 
stand. And the implication would be that a difficulty is a sort 
of problem given by someone to someone else to be solved. 
This view is held because everyone remembers the thousands of 
difficulties concocted by teachers for him to worry over. And in 
addition he remembers the many duties assigned him by his 
parents which had to be done. And then there have been all 
sorts of objects and individuals who have interfered with what 
he wanted to do. 

But just as we have seen that wants are not basically objects 
but internal dissatisfactions or lacks of satisfaction, so difficulties 
are not problems, nor duties, nor interfering objects, as such, but 
situations in which a want cannot be satisfied. If I do not want 
to go' fishing there is no difficulty about getting bait; if I do want 
to go, that difficulty must be solved. If a boy does not expect 
to go to school after his sixteenth birthday, there are few real 
difficulties for him in school during his last few weeks. But 
problems ignored by him are real ones to the ambitious youth 
on his way to college. The same college student who turns in 
poorly prepared themes may write excellent editorials for the 
college paper. In the first case no real wants were involved; in 
the second case, genuine wants called for satisfaction only to be 
obtained through earnest effort. Bok tells us in his interesting 
autobiography how he refused to do his writing lessons because 
he did not want to write like the specimens in the copy-book. 
And even two good lickings made no impression on him. A diffi- 
culty always includes, then, an unsatisfied want as a very 
important element. But the difficulty includes, on the other hand, 
an environment in which the want cannot, for the moment at 
least, be satisfied. And to this external combination of objects 
and persons a reaction must be made either by responding to the 
complex stimulus and not satisfying the want, or by getting away 

73 



74 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

from the stimulus and finding another to which a response may be 
made that will more fully satisfy the want. 

Most wants are solved immediately by reacting instinctively 
or in terms of acquired habits. Thus a cat on meeting a dog is 
instantly possessed of the want to escape and runs up a tree; or 
if cornered, it fights. Both these reactions are native solutions 
to the difiiculty. So the baby cries when hungry. Later the 
child asks for food (an acquired habit developed out of crying). 
The fact of the matter is that most difficulties are so solved, either 
by responding to the whole difficulty or by responding to one or 
more of its parts (Law of Partial Identity). So in the problem, 
"James has six marbles and William has four. What is the differ- 
ence in the number that they have?" the average child responds 
to *'/ias" and "and/' and adds six and four, instead of reacting 
to the whole problem, i. e., to its entire meaning. Most solutions 
depend, then, upon the existence of instinctive or habit-formed 
responses to the difficulty-situation. But human beings 
encounter situations to which they have no response and yet have 
to make one. In such cases a degree of originahty, as contrasted 
with the rehearsal of a previously learned reaction, is demanded. 
Before attempting to answer the question, "How are solutions 
hit upon?" let us note certain other implications in, "Why are 
solutions attempted?" 

First, it is clear from what has gone before that solutions are 
attempted to difficulties because in no other way can certain 
wants be satisfied. 

Second, the emphasis in solving a difficulty is upon satisfying 
a want, not upon getting the right solution. A child, just pro- 
moted a whole grade, was given problems like these to solve — • 
multiply 23 X 17. Due to habit he placed one under the other 
and drew a line. Then knowing nothing of multiplication beyond 
9X9 and knowing that he was not expected to add or subtract, 
he proceeded to get an answer. This he did by multiplying 
seven and three, and one and two, and writing down 21 and 2 
getting the answer 221. With this he was perfectly satisfied. 
Really, why shouldn't he be? But when the teacher disapproved 
of the answer he was confronted with a new want. He must now 
not only get an answer to each such problem, but also get one 
that would bring approval. This he utterly failed to do until an 
observant parent discovered his random efforts. 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 75 

There are, then, two distinct problems as to how difficulties 
are solved. There is first, how are they solved naturally in 
everyday life? and second, how should they be solved so as to 
obtain correct solutions? The latter problem is too complicated 
to be attempted in an introductory course. But this general 
hint can be given. The more wants that are satisfied by a solu- 
tion the more likely it is that the solution is the correct one. But 
a true solution will not be obtained by an individual who does not 
possess the mental habits that must be combined in some manner 
to bring about the solution. In the illustration above, the addi- 
tion of the second want (teacher's approval) made it impossible 
for the boy to accept his original answers. But since he lacked 
the mental habits of multiplying he could not solve the multi- 
plication problems by himself. (An exceedingly brilliant child 
might do so, working up to the proper method through the use of 
already established habits.) 

Education helps one to obtain true solutions to life's problems 
through developing many acquired wants which must be taken 
into account when a difficulty is encountered and it supplies 
many facts and principles which can be manipulated in the efforts 
to solve the difficulty. But probably it does not improve at all 
the sheer mental functioning involved in solving difficulties, for 
such abilities are apparently inborn. 

How Difficulties are Solved 

The solving of a difficulty is essentially an effort to escape from 
a dissatisfying state and to reach a satisfying one. Five stages 
may be distinguished: (1) Dissatisfaction, (2) Finding solutions, 
(3) Testing the solutions, (4) Satisfaction, and (5) Accepting the 
solution. For convenience in discussing the whole subject, each 
of these stages may be subdivided into three levels.^ (See Plate 
XXXVIII.) The first level represents the type of solving diffi- 
culties which we find primarily in animals, but also in man. The 

^ The "levels" are the degrees of conscious analysis in the problem solving 
process. On the first level there is a minimum of consciousness as to what is 
the difl&culty; on the second level there is only a general notion of what the 
diflBculty is, whereas on the third level the difficulty is finally isolated and 
comprehended so that it can be stated in words, and moreover there is a 
maximum of understanding of the steps employed in solving the problem. 

The "stages" are the five steps which constitute the difficulty-solving 
process. 



76 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



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39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 77 

third level represents the type found only in man, and then only 
under certain circumstances. The second level is intermediate. 
It is upon this level that man solves most of his difficulties. 
Whether animals behave in this way is a question not yet settled. 

The Three Levels on Which Difficulties are Solved 

On the First LeveL — Man is first of all possessed by a vague 
restlessness. He does not know what is wrong, but he feels, 
rather than knows, that something is wrong. The restlessness 
causes him to move about, without really knowing why. In 
doing so he comes into contact with a variety of stimuli. To 
these he reacts. Some bring satisfaction, others dissatisfaction. 
Those that bring satisfaction he accepts as solutions to his diffi- 
culty, although they may not be true solutions at all. Consider 
an example. Johnnie comes home from school more hungry than 
usual because of having had less lunch than usual. In this case 
we postulate that the hunger is not sufficient to be consciously 
realized and that usually he does not get a lunch at this time of 
day. He is restless and does not settle down to play as usual. 
Soon he stumbles on an apple and asks for it. If the mother 
refuses, he wanders about. Then he thinks of candy and asks for 
a nickel. If refused again, he may try a drink of water. Later 
he may ask ''How long is it till supper?" or request a slice of 
bread-and-butter. In this case the restlessness gradually 
becomes consciously identified with desire for food. Boys and 
girls in the early adolescent period show this restlessness when the 
sex instinct awakens. Often they do not come to realize what is 
the cause for some time. Home-sickness is, to some extent cer- 
tainly, a restless dissatisfaction due to the absence of many 
familiar associations that made the individual feel at ease 
through satisfying the desire to be with people, to receive 
approval, and the like. 

On this first level the four stages of finding a solution, trying 
it out, satisfaction and acceptance, are pretty much all one stage 
of responding to stimuli that are encountered and continuing 
to respond to them if they bring satisfaction and ceasing to 
respond to them if they bring dissatisfaction. 

On the Second LeveL — The individual is conscious that some- 
thing is wrong. As he continues to pay attention to the dissatis- 
fying state he develops a ''hunch" as to what is wrong and a 



78 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

"hunch" as to how to solve it. This he proceeds to test, either 
by actually trying it out or by thinking it out. If the solution 
brings satisfaction it is accepted; if dissatisfaction, he tries again. 
The longer his struggles continue before he finds a satisfying 
condition, the more likely it is that the difficulty will become 
clearly analyzed and the solving carried out in terms of the third 
level. But this change from second to third level does not 
necessarily take place. For example, most students are satisfied 
with any method in mathematics that gives the right answer. 
Freshmen in college seem to be peculiarly unable to determine 
just what is wrong with their methods in mathematics. A 
serious attempt to have each student in mechanical drawing 
report why he made each mistake has resulted in almost complete 
failure. Many an executive gets a ''hunch" that something is 
wrong. His staff is called upon for solutions. As these are 
turned in the executive usually accepts or rejects them in terms 
of whether they satisfy or dissatisfy him, not upon whether they 
are logically correct. 

On the second level there is a certain amount of localization 
of the difficulty and a trying-out of solutions that come to mind. 
Here again the satisfaction that results determines very largely 
what solution is accepted. 

It should be noted that satisfaction in such cases results from 
three factors. The solution itself brings satisfaction; the whole 
setting which includes the solution brings satisfaction; and finally 
satisfaction comes because of escape from the strain of waiting 
for a solution. A little girl, for example, wants her warm wraps 
in order to go out and slide down hill. The coat is being mended 
and the mother brings out an old one, which is eagerly put on. 
She is satisfied. A few moments later she comes back crying 
and says, "They will laugh at me with this old coat on." The 
old coat satisfies the desire for warmth, but not the desire for 
approval from her playfellows. After waiting a long time for 
the new coat to be mended, the desire to escape waiting, plus 
the desire to slide down hill, may lead to acceptance of the old 
coat as a solution. It is not a perfect solution, but by accepting 
it, an escape is made from the steadily mounting dissatisfaction 
due to waiting. 

Acceptance or rejection of a solution on the second level is 
based, then, much more on satisfaction or dissatisfaction in 



I 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 79 

terms of the entire setting of the difficulty, than in terms of the 
mere response. 

On the third level, the individual is very much more 
conscious of what the difficulty consists of, and of the methods 
employed in solving it. The stages represent more or less clearly 
defined steps, and in the most advanced examples, the individual 
knows just what he is doing at any moment, and why, and just 
what remains to be done. 

The Five Stages in Solving Difficulties 

1. Dissatisfaction. — In everyday life one starts with vague 
restlessness that may gradually develop into the consciousness 
that something is wrong, if no satisfying solution is stumbled 
on; and this in turn may develop into the consciousness of an 
actual difficulty if again no solution has been hit upon. In the 
highly artificial life of the schoolroom the pupil has definite 
problems presented to him. But these are not real problems to 
him unless they are difficulties which affect his wants in some way. 
Only when they enter into his life does he make genuine struggles 
to solve them. Most thinking in the schoolroom is perfunctory 
and compares unfavorably with that going on in play. 

2. Finding a Solution. — On the third level, where the highest 
type of thinking and reasoning takes place, three fairly distinct 
processes of finding a solution may be distinguished, namely, 
(a) analyzing the difficulty into its parts, (6) stating the problem 
in clean-cut language, and (c) raising one or more assumptions, 
or hypotheses, as to how it may be solved. These three processes 
do not take place in one, two, three order, but rather occur in 
random order, back and forth, each advance in any one of the 
three helping to advance the other two. In other words, each 
further analysis of the difficulty helps to formulate still more 
clearly just what the problem is, and both of these help to raise 
other assumptions or to strengthen or weaken assumptions 
already considered. Each new assumption may present a new 
point of view, necessitating further anatysis of the original diffi- 
culty. All this is very well illustrated by candidates for a degree, 
who have to write theses. They flounder around trying this and 
that, changing the general problem from time to time. When 
they reach the point where they can formulate their problem in 
definite language they are about one-third through their thesis 



80 



INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



work, for they have analyzed the problem quite thoroughly 

and have equally clear ideas as to how to go to work to solve it 

(have assumptions to test out). 

Take as an illustration this puzzle : ''Here are 9 squares. Put 

a figure (no two alike) in each square so as to 

make a total of 15 by adding them up and 

down, crosswise and diagonally." 

While studying the figure and problem, 
suppose this assumption flashed into mind: 
''Maybe there are only a very few combina- 
tions of these figures adding up to fifteen; if 
I had them all before me, it might help to solve the puzzle." The 
combinations are then worked out. Here they are: 

Combinations involving 1 

Combinations involving 2 

Combinations involving 3 

Combinations involving 4 

Combinations involving 5 5-1-9 5-2-8 5-3-7 5-4-6 

Combinations involving 6 

Combinations involving 7 ". . 

Combinations involving 8 

Combinations involving 9 



1-5-9 


1-6-8 




2-4-9 


2-5-8 


2-6-7 


3-3-9 


3-4-8 


3-5-7 


4-2-9 


4-3-8 


4-5-6 


5-1-9 


5-2-8 


5-3-7 


6-1-8 


6-2-7 


6-4-5 


7-2-6 


7-3-5 




8-1-6 


8-2-5 


8-3-4 


9-1-5 


9-2-4 





Now let us see how these combinations can help us. Look 
again at the diagram. If both the cross and both the diagonal 
rows must Sidd to 15, then the figure that we put in the center, 
common to all the directions, must evidently be a figure that is 
common to four combinations — and the only figure we have like 
that is 5; it goes in four of our combinations, no more and no less. 
So let us try putting 5 in the center. 

Now, the question comes up : How arrange the four combina- 
tions in which 5 occurs? Let us try " 1 " in one corner and "9" 
in another. No, that won't work, because both "1" and "9" 
occur only in two combinations, whereas the corner square enters 
into three combinations. "1" and "9" must go in "side" 
squares. We have then 1-5-9 in the middle row. That forces 
the combination 6-1-8 into the first column. The rest is easy. 
Add the rows in every direction and 15 is obtained in each case, 
proving the answer to be correct. 

Here we had the analyzing of the difficulty and the raising 
of assumptions going on hand in hand. This was quickly fol- 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 81 

lowed by the third stage of testing out the assumptions to see 
whether they are correct. All this looks easy, but very few ever 
solve this puzzle except by trial-and-error methods. Let us con- 
sider the three processes involved in finding a solution in more 
detail. 

^(a). Analyzing the Difficulty. — This depends upon previous 
experience with the elements which make up the problem. 
A botanist readily notes the relationship of stamens to calyx 
in a flower — a matter entirely overlooked by others not so trained. 
Similarly, a woman notes every detail in a menu because she is 
constantly dealing with menus. A man can hardly tell after- 
wards what he had to eat, because such details never concern 
him. After one has been taught to analyze many kinds of 
problems he develops general habits of analysis. That is, he 
knows that analysis should be made. So he hunts around for 
ways of breaking up a whole problem into its parts. But if he 
doesn't know anything about the material he will analyze in a 
very poor manner, just as early botanists classified plants in 
terms of characteristics of the plant instead of in terms of the 
flower, 

2(b). Stating the Problem, — The tendency on the part of all is 
to strive for the solution, and to accept any solution that brings 
satisfaction. Hence, it is only the well-trained thinker who stops 
at this stage of solving a difficulty and forces himself to state just 
what it is that he is trying to solve. But unless this is done, the 
solution is most likely to be inadequate. All this is shown clearly 
in the case of children. They may start out in the right direction, 
but very soon they are proceeding in an utterly ridiculous manner 
because they are no longer responding to the real problem, but 
only to the latest step in the process. Hence the necessity of 
calhng upon them to state the problem again and again. 

2{c). Raising Assumptions. — While I was driving my automo- 
bile along a country road the wheels suddenly skidded just enough 
to turn the car at a right angle to the road. By the time I was 
able to stop it the front wheels had run off the edge of the road and 
were pointing down a steep incline. My companion and I got out 
of the car and walked about surveying the situation. Our first 
reasoned reaction was that it would wreck the car if it went down 
the steep incHne to the level pasture below. This conclusion was 
an assumption. Now, in terms of it just as much as in terms of 

6 



82 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

the actual situation itself, the further reactions were made. 
After trying a number of plans which all proved ineffectual in 
getting the machine back on the road, we finally questioned the 
assumption itself. After a careful survey we decided that by 
going very slowly it would be possible to get the car down the 
steep incline (our second assumption). Once reaching the 
pasture it was clear that we could get back on the road at a point 
farther along. This plan was carried out and we went on our 
way. 

Our first assumption was incorrect, and as long as we held it in 
mind we probably never would have got the car free without 
assistance. With a change of assumption we freed ourselves from 
the difficulty. 

Sherlock Holmes was always preaching to Watson the necessity 
of distinguishing between the facts and the assumptions based on 
the facts. The trouble with most of us is that we do not question 
our assumptions but accept them as true. This is strikingly 
illustrated in the case of most students in trying to solve the 
puzzle given in the last lesson. They think of it as similar to 
checkers (an assumption, and one that ought to be challenged). 
So they try to solve the puzzle, moving a checker first on one 
side and then on the other. But the key move is the third move, 
made with a checker of the same side as in the second move. 
This they fail to see because of their false assumption. 

Reasoning involves, then, raising assumptions and testing 
them out. It should be borne in mind that we must not only 
test out all the various reactions (solutions) that come to mind, 
but also must deliberately ask ourselves, what is the assumption 
upon which I am basing my solutions? Is it correct? In the 
case of a problem with five significant details, we should not 
permit ourselves to center all our efforts on trying out the asso- 
ciations aroused by considering one of these details, but should 
consider each detail in turn. Possibly the key association (the 
solution) will come to mind only after considering the fifth detail; 
possibly it will come to mind only when all five are considered 
together, or possibly when only the second and fifth are con- 
sidered. In reasoning, then, one must not allow himself to con- 
centrate all his efforts on one assumption, but must vary the 
assumptions. Ruger^ reports a case where an individual worked 

1 H. A. Ruger, The Psychology of Efficiency, 1910, p. 31. 



I 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 83 

3600 seconds chiefly at one point in a puzzle. ''He was then 
asked to state his assumptions. He did so, stating that he was 
trying to pass the ring over the end of the central loop and so off. 
(The ring came off, not there, however, but at a hinge on the 
side of the figure.) He was asked to change his assumption. 
After 480 seconds more, he was asked what he was doing. He 
replied, rather sheepishly, that he was still working along the 
same line. He was then asked to state what other possible ways 
of solution there might be. He mentioned the correct one: 
'Well, it is just possible that the ring could come off at the hinges. ' 
He could not seem to bring himself, however, to test the second 
hypothesis in any thorough-going way." 

As we shall see later, in Lesson 49, the more clearly we for- 
mulate our assumptions, the greater the chance there is for us to 
vary the steps in solving our problem and to utilize the experience 
in new situations later in life. In the mirror-drawing experiment 
we developed our technique to a very large degree without con- 
sciously knowing what we were doing. Only after we had prac- 
tically mastered the process did we come to understand what we 
were doing, if indeed we understood it then. There we could 
learn in that way because we had the two red lines constantly 
telling us whether our moves were correct or not. In the case of a 
puzzle we have no such guide (and this is true of the big problems 
of life). Not until the puzzle is solved (or, in life, not until 
years afterward) do we know whether the separate moves were 
correct. Hence, the more clearly we get before us just what each 
assumption really means, the better we are prepared for deciding 
on the appropriate move to make. 

What determines what move will be made? In this elemen- 
tary course, we cannot deal with such an involved question 
except to say that, other things being equal, that move will occur 
which is most in harmony with all the others, and in keeping 
with the sum total of our experience. The ability to pick out the 
significant details in the difficulty, and to infer the solution, has 
been called sagacity. A sufficiently sagacious person would 
perceive the assumptions given in connection with solving the 
puzzle on page 318, or the one in Lesson 38. Few have so much 
of this desirable capacity. 

Many a scientist has had the data which pointed toward a new 
principle but has not seen that principle because it did not fit in 



84 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

^ i 
with his other experiences. But once the principle is enunciated 
by another, his old data are immediately interpreted properly. 
Similarly, we shall make mistakes in attempting to solve a new 
problem just in proportion as the correct answer is foreign to 
our experiences. The wider, then, our experiences, the more 
varied they are, the more likely we will be to solve our difficulties 
wisely and well. 

3. Trying out the solution is the third stage in solving a diffi- 
culty. Certain aspects of this have already been pointed out. 
The most important point to note is that the mental trying-out 
is in terms of those associations that come into mind at the time. 
A little child living in New York City will not question the 
statement that one pumps milk out of a cow with the cow's tail, 
for he has no experiences that bear on the incident. Similarly, 
true and false assumptions are accepted or not depending upon 
the experiences that flash into mind at the time. Rear-Admiral 
Bradley A. Fiske in his recent book. The Navy as a Fighting 
Machine, expresses this idea when he says, ''It must be borne in 
mind that in actual life our only real guide to wise action in any 
contingency that may arise is a memory, more or less consciously 
realized, of how a similar contingency has been met, successfully 
or unsuccessfully, in the past. Perhaps most of us do not realize 
that it is not so much experience that guides us as our memory of 
experiences. Therefore, in the training of both officers and en- 
listed men in strategy, tactics, seamanship, gunnery, engineering, 
and the rest, the memory of how they, or someone else, did this 
well and that badly (even if the memory be hardly conscious), 
is the immediate agency for bringing about improvement." 

Thorndike^ has the same thing in mind when he says, ''A good 
definition of intellectual independence is "reasoned dependence.'^ 
The truly initiating mind does not imitate less, but more. It imi- 
tates more men, in more fields, in a greater variety of conditions. 
But here again it is reasoned imitation; and out of multi- 
farious reasoned imitatings, comes, to him who has the capacity, 
the insight to discern, and the zeal to take, the profitable risk, 
the hopeful leap in the dark, the courageous step upward where 
no foothold may be found." 

Analyzing the difficulty, getting assumptions and trying them 

^ E. L. Thorndike, "Education for Initiative and Originality," Teachers 
College Record, Nov., 1916, p. 408ff. 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 85 

out are processes which all depend upon knowledge, upon the 
storehouse of existing habits. The more one knows the better the 
possibilities are of thinking out new solutions. But without 
sagacity, which apparently is a native capacity, the correct 
analyses will not likely be made nor the correct assumptions 
come to mind. 

4. Satisfaction. — In the case of problems in which real reasoning 
is employed, the solution is not accepted nor rejected in terms of 
simple satisfaction or dissatisfaction as in the case of solutions 
worked out on the first and second levels. But the less truly 
logical the reasoning, the more will satisfaction and dissatisfaction 
enter to determine the acceptance of the solution. We all know 
good students and capable emploj^es who can give us only such 
conclusions as they think their teacher or executive believes in. 
Here the desire to secure approval is too strong and the solution 
is accepted almost entirely on that basis. 

5. Acceptance of a solution is made on the basis of belief or 
proof. Belief comes immediately and is not analyzed. It 
''seems to be an expression of the harmony of a particular 
statement with the dominant group of experiences ... In the 
dream, where we may assume that large areas of the cortex are 
inactive and only the remaining few control consciousness, one 
will believe many constructions that are rejected as soon as one 
wakes. In the one case the dream need harmonize only with 
the partial consciousness, but as soon as one wakes, it is necessary 
that it harmonize with all portions. This it fails to do and is at 
once seen to be bizarre ... In general, belief is agreement 
between the construction of the moment and the total 
experience."^ 

Proof is necessary when the individual does not entirely believe 
his conclusion, or questions whether another will accept it. 
Proof is expressed in terms of reasons. The conclusion is shown 
to be true because capable of classification under an already 
accepted law or principle or common experience. Thus we may 
prove that a whale is an animal and not a fish by stating that it is 
warm-blooded and breathes air in lungs. This is deductive 
proof. The other form of proof is inductive; by this form the 
solution is proved true because all other similar incidents were 
true. As Pillsbury expresses it, ''The whole proof is one of 

1 W. B. Pillsbury, The Fundamentals oj Psychology, 1916, p. 409ff. 



86 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS i 

assuming that what has happened will happen. '^ Thus, the 
reader accepts the general characteristics of learning curves as 
true of all learning because these characteristics have appeared in 
all the curves studied. 

Having scrutinized a solution from many angles one tends to 
accept it finally on the basis of proof, i.e., on the basis of reasons 
logically worked out. More often it is accepted in terms of 
belief, i. e., the solution seems to fit in with all the experiences that 
come to mind and moreover gives complete satisfaction. The 
writer knows of more than one research that has never been 
published — although it satisfies every requirement that the investi- 
gator can set up — because it gives results he does not believe 
in, or cannot reconcile with some generally accepted law. The 
results in such a research may have been proved correct from 
every angle now known, but because they are not believed, they 
are not accepted. On the other hand, proof is usually better 
than belief because it is based on reasons, logically tested, rather 
than on our own experiences and what we want and do not want. 

Much of education is for the purpose of training individuals to 
solve difficulties on the third level instead of on the other two, 
and to accept solutions on the basis of proofs instead of satis- 
faction or belief. The insistence in writing up laboratory notes 
that the problem, method, results, interpretation, and appli- 
cation, shall all be distinguished is for the purpose of making the 
student think clearly and reason out his solutions. In such cases 
the problem is supplied; the student analyzes it, using various 
methods, and gets certain detailed facts (data) about it. Then 
these data are interpreted in terms of hypotheses that occur to 
the student, and as the interpretations occur he accepts or rejects 
them in terms of all the facts he has at his disposal. 

Relationship Between Learning Through Trial-and-error 

AND Reasoning 

From our experience with the puzzle in Lesson 38, it is clear 
that this new situation is responded to primarily by random 
movements. We try this and we try that. Many undoubtedly 
learn to solve the puzzle through random movements alone. 
They employ actually no other process than that of trying and 
trying, slowly eliminating false movements and as slowly adopt- 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 87 

ing correct movements. This is solving a difficulty on the first 
level. As an example of the other extreme of learning, on the 
third level, we may picture an individual who quietly thought 
out the whole solution before beginning to manipulate the parts, 
and then went ahead and solved it correctly in terms of his 
thought-out solution. Such cases are very, very rare. A less 
extreme case would be the individual who made each move only 
after a careful analysis of the entire situation, each time planning 
out what was to be done next, and so proceeded until he had 
solved the task without being forced to retrace a step. Such 
cases are not so rare, but are certainly seldom found. Between 
these two cases — one thoughtful planning and the other mere 
animal learning — lie all sorts of combinations of the two. Some 
persons will manipulate a very great deal and think out very 
little; others will do the reverse. The average person will 
probably first attempt to solve the puzzle by manipulation and 
only after many failures will he actually do any real thinking. 

The total picture as to how difficulties are solved is this: 
The natural thing is to solve them on the first level. But many 
problems cannot -be solved on that level. After many failures 
we shall use more and more of the processes outlined in levels 
two and three, but we shall be ever prone to get back to the first 
level whenever we can. The only assurance of adequate solving 
of difficulties lies in third level performance; but this level will 
not be reached until after we have been taught rigorous methods 
of thinking, and even then only when solutions cannot be 
obtained otherwise. 

Wherein is the difference between the manipulative type of 
learning and the thinking sort? First of all, it is clear that they 
are aUke in this respect, that both involve learning through 
trial-and-error — the former by trial-and-error of actual move- 
ments, the latter by trial-and-error of ideas. For even the rare 
individual who thinks the whole solution out before making a 
move thinks over many a possible move and discards it as wrong 
before finally seizing on the correct series of moves to make. As 
we have seen so many times before, a new situation demanding 
responses which are not called up by that situation is always 
reacted to by random movements, either actual or incipient. 
The difference between these two extreme types of learning does 
not, then, lie in the fact that one is a haphazard attack on the 



88 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

problem and the other a du-ect attack. The difference lies in the 
fact that in the one movements are foremost, and in the other 
ideas. 

''A contrast is usually drawn between learning by trial-and- 
error and learning by ideas, — the latter being clearly present in 
much human learning, but only doubtfully present in the learning 
of animals. 'Ideas,' if available, might be of service in several 
ways. First, an idea called up by some feature of a present 
situation might suggest some reaction which would not be directly 
suggested by the situation itself, and so might enlarge the range 
of the varied reactions, and afford greater opportunity for 
success. There is some evidence, not wholly conclusive, that 
ideas may function in this way in some animals. Second, where 
a reaction has been previously tried and found unsuccessful, it 
might be mentally rehearsed without the actual motor perform- 
ance. Such mental rehearsal of a reaction certainly occurs in 
human behavior, and possibly in the monkeys, which seem at 
times to inhibit movement as if in thought; but there is little 
evidence of it in dogs and cats, whose motor activity is perhaps 
too prompt and direct to permit of the necessary inhibition. 
A third service of ideas might be of the following: The successful 
reaction and its result might similarly be rehearsed, and thus 
practice in dealing with a situation might be obtained in the 
absence of the actual situation. This use of ideas occurs fre- 
quently in man, but in animals there is no clear evidence of it. 
Fourth, by a combination of the first with the second or third of 
the above uses of ideas, some feature of the present situation 
might suggest a reaction learned in previous experience; the 
consequences of this reaction might be mentally rehearsed, and 
its probable success or failure in the present situation judged 
without actual trial. This would be equivalent to 'thinking out' 
the solution of a present difficulty without, or before, actually 
trying it. So complex a use of ideas, while perfectly within 
human capacity, occurs seldom even in man, in cases similar to 
the maze or puzzle-box experiments; for the prolonged suspension 
of motor reactions which it requires is disagreeable to most 
men — especially if the situation permits of immediate reaction. 
Fifth, the ideas employed might have the character of general 
principles, from which the necessities of the present case could be 
deduced, and so the situation be thoroughly and surely mastered 



I 



39 HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 89 

in advance of motor reaction. Such a use of ideas occurs in 
specially trained human individuals within the range of their 
specialty, but otherwise is probably rare, at least in any complete 
form."^ 

Thinking implies bringing to the actual situation many asso- 
ciated ideas which then become an integral part of the total 
situation to which the individual reacts. The '^ random-move- 
ment" learner accordingly reacts to the actual single situation 
before him; the '' reasoning" learner reacts to a more complex 
situation created by recalling previous experiences. 

The Difference Between the Reasoning of Adults and 

Children 

In some quarters we have heard that children do not reason 
until such-and-such an age, as for example, 10 years. Such a 
point of view is all wrong. The mental processes of children are 
in no way different from those of adults as to kind, although they 
do differ in complexity. The little girl of 3% years, who, after 
having had her tonsils removed, asked, ''Why did God put tonsils 
in me if the doctor has to take them out?" has reasoned just as 
surely as any scientist or statesman. She has associated with 
the situation — tonsils removed — the memory of her grand- 
mother's teaching that God made her, and has reacted to both 
details. 

In Lesson 12 we saw that children have a smaller memory-span 
than adults. That means that they cannot hold so many items 
in mind at one time, i. e., that in reasoning they will not be able 
to react at the same time to so many details as an adult. Their 
reasoning, then, will be based on fewer items. And second, we 
realize that they have not had time to develop very many bonds, 
and therefore situations cannot call up many ideas. Conse- 
quently again, their reasoning must operate in terms of fewer 
units. These differences were clearly exemplified in an incident 
in which children's reasoning was contrasted with that of an 
adult. One bitter cold night, when there were several inches of 
snow on the ground, M. (aged 43-^ years) began talking of sum- 
mer experiences, mentioning how, as she and her brother stood on 

^G. T. Ladd and R. S. Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, p. 
553f. 



90 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

the porch steps, I had sprinkled their feet with the garden hose. 
I suggested that we do it again right then. E. (aged 2^^ years) 
assented with great glee and started for the front porch. M., 
however, expostulated (1) that it was too dark, whereupon I 
suggested turning on the porch light, and (2) that the hose was not 
out in the yard, whereupon I said I would go and get it from the 
attic. She still protested, but with no further argument. Her 
mother then suggested that it was too cold. With this new point 
in mind M. pointed out one detail after another against the plan, 
all centering around the idea ''too cold." E., was not disturbed 
by all these arguments, but still insisted on having his legs 
sprinkled. Even after being taken out on the porch he was not 
dismayed, but was all eagerness to remove his shoes and stock- 
ings. In this case E. was not reasoning at all, though he did in 
other circumstances and had for some time. M., on the other 
hand, clearly called up two hypotheses, in terms of which she 
argued, and utilized equally well a third supplied by her mother. 
The reasoning of children is, then, carried on with fewer units 
because of a small memory-span and of limited experience. 
The conclusions reached do not often agree with those of an adult 
because the reasoning has not been based on certain ideas that 
the adult has had in mind. Sometimes it is more accurate than 
that of the adult just because the latter has supplied hypotheses 
which were not germane to the problem and has reached a conclu- 
sion thus based on a wrong assortment of ideas; whereas the child, 
who is free from the hypotheses, has reached the correct solution. 
Possibly no one reasons more correctly about simple everyday 
affairs than does a boy of ten years, just because at that age he 
is rather free from the larger hypotheses governing life which 
adults have gathered together. The girl is much more likely than 
he to see facts through day dreams.^ 

Summary 

Solving a difficulty, not previously encountered, necessitates 
(1) a motive, or desire, or want to solve it; (2) trial-and-error 
manipulation of the available supply of movements and associa- 
tions; and (3) sagacity in choosing the correct ones from among 

^Hans Gross, Criminal Psychology, 1897, translated by H. M. Kallen, 
1911, page 366. 



3d HOW DIFFICULTIES ARE SOLVED— REASONING 91 

the entire supply. A situation is a difficulty only when it has 
been identified as the cause of dissatisfaction; and it is solved 
when dissatisfaction has been transformed into satisfaction. 

Usually the solving process is neither clearly nor consciously 
comprehended. When a satisfactory state is not reached through 
ordinary random-movement learning the difficulty tends to 
become more and more clearly comprehended until it is spoken 
of as a problem. The process of solving a problem is called reas- 
oning. Reasoning is a trial-and-error performance, but it in- 
volves a manipulation of ideas rather than of actual movements. 
The ideas that come to mind and the manipulation of them de- 
pend upon ideas previously experienced that are related in some 
way to the problem, and also upon the sagacity of the reasoner. 



LESSON 40 

HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— IMITATION 

The next few lessons will deal with the problem so often ex- 
pressed as, ''How can I get attention?" So far as the purposes 
of this course are concerned, we may define the term ''paying 
attention to" by the phrase "reacting to." The teacher's prob- 
lem, "How can I get attention?" is, then, "How can I get my 
pupils to react?" Really it means, "How can I get my pupils 
to react as I want them to do?" Except in abnormal conditions 
the teacher's problem is never, "How can I get attention?" but 
"How can I get attention to the thing I am presenting?" When 
Willie is throwing spit-balls at Fred he is attending to that matter, 
— he is reacting to the situation of Fred's proximity and spit- 
balls. But no teacher would call this "attention." What is 
"attention" from the standpoint of the teacher comprises a 
reaction by WilHe to Mary's recitation of a geography lesson. 
Possibly if the teacher were to attempt to answer the question, 
"Just what reaction do I want WilHe to make to Mary's recita- 
tion?" much of the trouble she has in "getting attention" would 
disappear. It would disappear, because the teacher would real- 
ize that generally there is no particular reaction for Willie to 
make. Her problem then would be to arrange the conduct of the 
classroom so as to present a situation to which Willie can react. 

One of the ways in which this may be done is by demonstrating 
or showing what is desired. The pupil imitates, we say, and so 
learns. 

The problem in this particular lesson is to determine whether 
one learns through imitation or not. Some psychologists claim 
that we cannot learn in this way. What is meant by such a 
statement? 

Determine whether one can learn through imitation or not 
after answering the questions that follow. 

As an aid in solving the main problem, define very carefully the 
two terms "learning" and "imitation." 

92 



40 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— IMITATION 93 

In writing up your paper do not answer these questions in serial 
order. Present a well-rounded answer to the problem and 
utilize these and other cases in your argument. 

1. If A smiles at us, do we smile back? (Consider A as a pretty 
baby; a disreputable old tramp (a) on the street, (b) as a come- 
dian in a show; an old friend; a social leader; a negro waiter; a 
charming girl.) 

2. If B shows great pleasure, do we likwise show pleasure? 
(Consider B as representative of various persons and enjoying 
pleasure for various reasons.) 

3. How does a child learn to speak English in America, or 
Japanese in Japan, if not by imitation? 

4. If we see another drinking at a bubble fountain, do we 
drink also? Explain. 

• 5. When Mr. C and Mr. D meet Miss E whom only C knows, 
both C and D raise their hats. Does D raise his hat through 
imitation of C? If not, why not? 

6. Do we learn to dance, or swim, or skate, or play tennis, or 
golf, through imitation? If not, how do we learn? 

7. How are styles adopted so rapidly except through imitation? 

8. Can a young woman copy her friend's way of doing up her 
hair? Isn't that imitation? Why couldn't she, when four years 
of age, copy her older sister's manner of braiding her hair? 

9. After watching a man use a typewriter, or play the piano, 
or play chess, why cannot we do likewise? Or can we? 

10. Are not all household tasks such as cooking, waiting on 
table, sweeping, dusting, etc., learned through imitation? If 
not, could they be learned through imitation? 

(Hand in your paper at the next class hour.) 



LESSON 41 
HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 

Getting others to want to do what we want them to do is the 
most important psychological problem in teaching. For if pupils 
really want to get their lessons they will get them, provided some 
sort of instruction is given, whereas if they don't want to, the 
best methods will avail little. Getting interest, or arousing the 
desire to do the school work, is the problem before us. 

The teacher often expresses this problem as that of getting 
attention. Let us first explore this conception of getting attention 
and see what it means. 

Nature of Attention and Interest 

Three Forms of Attention. — An individual in responding to a 
stimulus may give involuntary attention, spontaneous attention, or 
voluntary attention. The first two have already been considered 
in Lesson 31. Involuntary attention occurs when a stimulus 
is able to force a response. A loud bang, a mosquito bite, a 
pronounced rhythm, a pin projecting from the shoe of the boy 
behind one in school — all force attention, force us to respond to 
them whether we want to or not. If after the first response has 
been involuntarily made, we continue to respond with interest 
to the stimulus, our attention is then spontaneous and no longer 
involuntary. But if after the first response we do not want to 
continue responding to the stimulus, it is then viewed as a dis- 
traction and we endeavor to pay voluntary attention to some- 
thing else. 

Spontaneous attention is present either when the stimulus 
that is being reacted to leads to a response that satisfies an exist- 
ing want, or when we are ''hunting" for a stimulus that will lead 
to a satisfying response. It is the most efficient type of attention 
and is accompanied by the mental states of interest or satisfaction. 

Voluntary attention arises under two conditions, similar in 
that each involves a confiict. In the first case we have an 

95 



96 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

individual exhibiting voluntary attention when he forces himself 
to continue reacting to certain stimuli in spite of the presence of 
other distracting stimuli. In the second case, voluntary atten- 
tion is displayed when he responds in terms of that want (from 
among two or more w^ants) which is less immediately satisfying. 
So, if Fred wants both to watch Willie's antics and to study his 
geography lesson, we speak of his attention to the geography 
lesson as voluntary attention, whereas his attention to Willie 
is called spontaneous attention. To watch Willie brings imme- 
diate satisfaction, whereas to study the geography lesson will 
bring satisfaction later on when the well-prepared lesson is 
commended. A characteristic aspect of voluntary attention is 
the feeling of effort that accompanies it. Fred has to force himself 
to pay attention to the geography lesson because of the distract- 
ing antics of Willie. 

Concentration of Attention. — Due to the fact that stimuli are 
nearly always present to distract one from what he wants to do, 
to satisfy certain wants when the individual is attempting to 
satisfy entirely different wants, it is necessary to cultivate volun- 
tary attention. In other words, it is necessary to learn to con- 
centrate one's attention on certain stimuli and to disregard other 
stimuli. This ability to concentrate grows chiefly out of culti- 
vating the habit of ignoring other things. The little child reacts 
consciously to cutaneous sensations from his toes, to kinaesthetic 
sensations from arms or legs, to auditory sensations, to visual 
sensations, etc., sensations to which adults do not consciously 
react, at least ordinarily. Thorndike^ expresses it thus: — '^Such 
bonds as, 'Stimuli to hunger save at mealtimes — neglect them,' 
' Sounds of boys at play save at playtime — neglect them,' 'Ideas 
of lying down and closing one's eyes save at bedtime — neglect 
them,' and the like, are the main elements of real fact meant by 
'power of attention,' or 'concentration,' or 'strength of will'." 
The child must learn to form hundreds of specific detailed habits 
if he is ever to study as he should. He must learn not to pay 
attention to sensations from his toes; not to pay attention to 
moving objects, or in fact to any object except the book; not to 
react to noises in the room, such as a neighbor's pen or a whispered 
conversation, or to noises outside; not to react to hunger or 
thirst stimuli, etc. 

^E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. II, p. 419. 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 97 

One goal to be reached in studying is the abiUty to concentrate 
on one's work, even when it is uninteresting. But such concen- 
trated voluntary attention is still inferior in its efficiency to 
spontaneous attention, which arises when one is completely 
interested in what one is doing. The ultimate goal is to trans- 
form uninteresting work into interesting material. 

Nature of Interest. — Interest is an accompaniment of sponta- 
neous attention under certain circumstances. When performing 
routine affairs, like washing our hands, we give very little spon- 
taneous attention and have very little interest. But when we 
must wait to wash, as in a Pullman car, we give spontaneous 
attention and are interested in what is going on. And if the 
waiting continues too long, there is again no interest, but rather 
irritation and dissatisfaction. In other words, interest seems 
to be manifested when there is a delay (not too long) in accom- 
plishing what one wants to do. Consider another example. If 
we stop eating a beefsteak and consider the matter, we experience 
interest in the beefsteak. Or we have interest in it when we 
cook it, or when we think about it for dinner. But while we are 
actually eating it, we experience satisfaction chiefly — hardly 
interest. If it is then taken away, we are interested again, but 
no longer satisfied. 

Another characteristic of interest is that it seems to attach 
itself to the object or idea to which we are reacting. It is we 
who are paying attention; it is the object that is or is not interest- 
ing; it is the reaction that is or is not satisfying. So we say, 
''This is an interesting book — I like (am satisfied) to read it." 

One of the most common causes of interest is, then, some 
interfering element which delays the reaction temporarily. 
Truly, much of the interest in life comes in the anticipation of 
what is going to be done. Another cause of interest is novelty. 
In Lesson 33 it was pointed out that curiosity is aroused by 
novelty, by a new combination of old familiar things. Herein 
interest and curiosity are almost the same thing. The two terms 
refer, however, to different mental states. When we are inter- 
ested we are attending to the object as an object to which our 
general response has already been defined. When we are curious, 
on the other hand, we are attending to the object while still 
wondering what to do with it. Curiosity appears when the new 
combination is too new to be immediately classified and reacted 



98 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



to; interest appears when the newness forces only a sHght read- 
justment in a response already started. The first time we listen 
to music broadcast over a wireless telephone, we are curious, 
but after several such experiences, the novelty wears off, we are 
no longer curious, and we may or may not be interested, depend- 
ing upon how much we enjoy that sort of entertainment. 

Getting interest in the schoolroom means presenting situations 
to which the children want to respond. But it means in addition 
that the situation must be frequently changed somewhat, so that 
the element of newness will reappear continually. A considerable 
change causes wonder, but not necessarily a desirable response. 
A still greater change leads to a situation so unfamiliar that the 
child will not respond, and will not pay attention, or will say 
''I can't do that," or ''I don't understand." For instance, you 
try to answer the child's question, ''Why does a street-car spill 
sand on the track?" You explain that is it to keep the car from 
slipping. That is understood. Then you seize the opportunity 
to explain the air-brake system. The child looks at you with 
mouth open in curiosity for a moment, and then his attention 
wanders off to something else. He cannot help it; he cannot 
react to the really new elements about air-brakes. (Of course, 
a very skilful development of the subject might keep him 
interested.) 

Two schools of thought^ have maintained opposite points of 
view with respect to the emphasis to be placed upon interest 
in schoolwork. One has maintained that children should be 
kept interested — that they should not be made to do what they 
don't want to do. The other school has emphasized" the dis- 
ciplinary view — that children should be made to do certain things 
just because they are hard and disagreeable for a child to do.. • 

Discussion of this latter opinion will be reserved for Lesson 47. 
The modern kindergarten is a very good illustration of the prac- 
tical working-out of the interest doctrine. Little children are 
there led to do what the teacher wishes them to do by being led 
first of all to want to do those very things. This method 
necessitates thought, time, skilful planning, and wide under- 
standing. But when it is well carried out it is likely to be suc- 
cessful. The real educator is primarily concerned, then, in 
arousing interest, in making the students want to study. 

^ A standard reference is J. Dewey, Interest and Effort, 1913. 



S 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 99 

Three Methods of Influencing Another 

By influencing another we mean getting him to do something 
which we desire him to do. Usually this means getting him to 
act immediately, but sometimes it means developing a certain 
view of life so that he will act in accordance with that view years 
later. The latter is accomplished through developing specific 
habits or general sentiments. 

Three methods of influencing another can be distinguished, 
depending upon whether (1) he strongly feels a want that can be 
satisfied through doing what is desired of him, (2) he only slightly 
feels a want that can be so satisfied, and (3) he is not conscious of 
a want that will be satisfied by acting as desired. For 
example, consider three boys all perfectly able to do their arith- 
metic lesson in creditable manner. The first boy has a strong 
desire to lead the class. As soon as the lesson is assigned he goes 
to work. The second boy isn't concerned about leadership in 
this sense. But after the teacher has suggested the pleasure 
of beating all the rest, he attacks his lesson with zeal. The 
third boy doesn't want to lead, after it is suggested, and doesn't 
try. A note from the teacher to the third boy's parents, to 
the effect that a little encouragement would help, results in the 
father's offering a dollar if the son gets 100 in arithmetic for 
the week. So this boy eventually goes to work, not because he 
wants to do the arithmetic, but because he wants the dollar in 
order to buy a knife. The want to lead was present in the first 
case and the assignment was instantly tackled as a means to the 
desired end; in the second case the more or less dormant want 
was intensified and then the boy started studying hard; in 
the third case an unrelated want was utilized by connecting it up 
to the work to be done. To repeat: In the first case, the presen- 
tation of the stimulus leads to the desired response, without 
reference to any want at all; in the second case, the stimulus is 
presented and a related want suggested; and in the third case, the 
stimulus is presented and an unrelated want is aroused and 
related to the stimulus. (The terms related and unrelated 
refer to what is present in the mind of the individual to 
be influenced. For example, if the father of the third boy 
had offered the knife a day before, then the boy would have im- 
mediately responded as soon as the lesson was assigned. In 



100 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

that case, the want of a knife would be viewed as. related to the 
stimulus.) 

1. Want Ready : A Related Stimulus Presented. — In the first 
case, the individual recognizes immediately that what is pre- 
sented to him is an adequate way of satisfying an already active 
want. Naturally he acts as desired, and he does it whole- 
heartedly and thoroughly, with spontaneous attention. 

Most work in school and elsewhere is performed on this basis. 
This is so because a great many of the children's natural wants 
are constantly being aroused in school; and school assignments, 
just because they are prominently before the child, are seized 
upon as ways of satisfying the wants. The desires to be noticed, 
to be approved of, to be a leader, and to follow the teacher and 
brighter or older children can all be satisfied more or less by doing 
the lesson. The desire to escape disapproval from teacher, 
fellow-pupils and parents, and the fear of punishment, also 
operate to accomplish the same end. The want to notice objects 
and manipulate them and the desire to mentally manipulate 
ideas are also there and aid very directly. Just how strong they 
are can be roughly appreciated by counting the large number of 
children who play school at home. 

The educational problem in this connection is the problem of 
presenting school work so as to fit in with existing wants. This 
requires that the teacher shall understand the instinctive and 
acquired wants of children as they are found in a particular class. 
For these furnish the starting-point. Also it necessitates 
organizing the material in the course of study and in each lesson 
to fit in with the children's wants. (Certain exceptions to this 
rule will be discussed later.) 

2. Waiit Suggested: a Related Stimulus Presented — Sug- 
gestion. — In the preceding section the discussion centered about 
''getting action" by presenting a situation to which the indi- 
vidual wanted to respond. In this section the discussion centers 
about ''getting action" when it is necessary to do two things: 
first, suggest a want; and second, present a situation to which the 
individual will want to respond as desired. An illustration of 
this was overheard in a second-grade class: "Here are some 
pretty gold stars. I'll put one on every paper that is perfect. 
You have just ten minutes to study your spelling lesson. Let's 
see how many can get a star." A want is suggested — a gold 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 101 

star — and the way to get it is to do what the teacher desires. 
A more complex illustration is given in Lesson 1, where 
Dr. Linder acted as though he had a revolver (creating a want 
to escape from being shot) and thereby made the crowd let 
him alone. 

In suggestion, the emphasis is put not upon the response that 
is desired, but upon a situation which leads to the response. It 
leads to the response because within the individual there exists a 
bond connecting situation with response. The stronger the bond 
the greater the certainty that the suggestion will be effective. 
At a general clean-up day the students and the faculty of a certain 
college spent the day cleaning up the campus. They were 
organized into ''gangs," and each was assigned a section of the 
grounds. At one point in the spirited cleaning-up that ensued, 
two women from one ''gang," more or less as a joke, dumped a lot 
of rubbish on the section assigned to another "gang." No 
amount of entreaty availed to induce them to pick it up and 
dump it where it belonged. But — when the psychology instruc- 
tor called out, "That will serve in tomorrow's class as a good 
illustration of sex-differences" (the topic assigned for discussion 
then) — they returned, picked up the trash, and went off with 
it, amid laughs and gibes. Why was the suggestion effectual? 
Because it presented to these women a situation with but one 
possible response. They could not allow the instructor (a man) 
to lord it over the women in the psychology class with the 
assertion that a woman cannot work so well or so fairly as a 
man. Now, the instructor did not make them carry the trash 
off — he did not even mention the matter. But he presented a 
situation which produced the desired response. 

A florist advertised in the street-cars with a card bearing a pic- 
ture of a beautiful spray of red roses and the question, "How long 
since you sent her some?" He didn't say, "Buy roses from me." 
He didn't talk about the response he desired. No, indeed. He 
presented a situation which he knew would force men to buy his 
flowers. And they bought them. As one said, "My wife 
nudged me with her elbow and looked at the card. What was 
there for me to do but buy? It's a 'hold-up' game!" . 

The easiest and also the most successful way to influence others 
is through suggestion. The other fellow does not feel " cornered " 
as he does when he is argued into doing anything. He doesn't 



102 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

feel coerced, because the cause for his doing what was wanted Hes 
in the strength of his associations — his own organism has forced 
him, not some outside agency. 

Without question suggestion is intimately related to the 
instincts of submission and self-assertion. The more submissive 
one is to the person who is employing suggestion, the more 
effective is the suggestion; because the want to be submissive, 
having been aroused, naturally leads him to do whatever will 
bring approval. A few persons respond to suggestion by doing 
just the opposite (counter-suggestion). Such action is to be 
viewed as an expression of self-assertive activity, as distinguished 
from submissive activity. 

An interesting use of deliberate suggestion in educational work 
is reported by Myers. Two paragraphs are quoted here. In 
developing the course of study and the texts which were used 
in the Americanization Schools of the Army "there was a con- 
scious attempt to make the warp and woof of the Lessons a 
propaganda for that school, for more education by the soldier 
and his home folks, for the Army, for the United States Govern- 
ment, and for America and American ideals. It was assumed 
that all suggestions of proper habits and virtues are most effec- 
tive when camouflaged, and especially when the learner unwit- 
tingly becomes the teacher of those duties and ideals which it is 
desired he shall get. In the Lessons the learner is not told that 
he should sleep with his windows open, that he should brush 
his teeth and clothes, stand erect, sit erect, take care of his 
appearance, and respect the great men and the flag of his country. 
Instead the learner becomes the reader or the writer of a letter 
to a friend in which he tells that he has developed these desirable 
traits, attitudes, and virtues, and suggests indirectly or directly 
to this friend that the latter could do the same and attain the 
same virtues and attributes. Throughout, the learner suggests 
the very virtues to himself which he seems to be suggesting to 
his friends. The first lessons of the course aim to 'sell' the course 
and the school to the learner; to suggest to him that he wants to 
learn and why he wants to learn. The first sentence he reads is, 
'I want to learn English' and the fifth is, *I want to learn to write 
a letter home.' 

''In his ninth lesson, which is a letter to his mother, he 
reads : 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 103 

Co. C, Recruit Educational Center 
Camp Upton, N. Y. 
February 1, 1920. 
My Dear Mother: 

This is my first letter home. I am going to write you a letter every week. 
I got a long letter from Nellie. She said she saw you. The sergeant read it 
for me but her next letter I am going to read myself. I want to read a good 
book. It is a hard job to learn to read and write but a good soldier likes a 
hard job. I have a good captain. He is a friend to every soldier. 

Robert Brown. 

In these letters he suggests to himself that he is going to read the 
next letter from his sweetheart, that he is going to read a good 
book, that he is doing well a big job, and that his captain is his 
friend."^ 

Much has been written about suggestion and the state of sug- 
gestibility, apparently on the assumption that it is more or less 
an unusual or even an abnormal condition. The writer believes 
that man naturally accepts what he sees and hears as true, and 
acts accordingly, except in occasional cases where the mind 
recalls previous experiences that run counter to what is now being 
presented. This has already been pointed out in connection with 
the lesson on reasoning, where it was stated that man really thinks 
out the solutions to his difficulties only when forced to do so. 

3. Want Aroused and Related to Stimulus — Motivation. — 
This third method of influencing another will be considered in the 
next two lessons. 

Some readers may at this point raise the query, ''Shouldn't 
one influence another through reasoning?" The ideal is un- 
doubtedly to appeal only through reason. But man is actually 
influenced very largely by his native wants. And when intellec- 
tual appeals will not accomplish what is desired, more emotional 
appeals must be employed. The facts of the case seem to be that 
man must be both convinced intellectually that the suggested 
program is adequate and made emotionally desirous of acting in 
terms of the program. 

Suggestion, Imitation, and Ideo-motor Action 

We have assumed so far that a person can be led to action 

through suggestion. Discussion as to how far and why this is so 

^ C. E. and G. C. Myers, The Language of America, Teachers' Manual, 
1921. 



104 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

is usually presented under the two headings, imitation and ideo- 
motor action. As a preliminary, let us see how these two terms 
differ from the term suggestion. A suggestion may be made 
either by doing an act oneself or by presenting an idea which 
leads to the act. One may go and get a drink or one may talk 
about getting a drink. In either case one suggests the want for 
water, and action in others follows, depending upon the presence 
in them of thirst. Now when A gets a drink and B does likewise, 
A suggested to B, and B imitated A. Suggestion and imitation 
refer, then, to the same psychological process. In the case of 
suggestion the emphasis is upon presenting the situation; in 
the case of imitation, the emphasis is upon reacting to the situa- 
tion. But if A does not get a drink but only talks about it, and 
then B goes and gets one, we have, technically speaking, not 
imitation on the part of B, but ideo-motor action. 

Let us now consider, first, how far A can make B act through 
suggestion (or, put the other way about, how far B will imitate 
A) ; and, second, how far B is likely to put into action the ideas 
presented by A. 

To What Extent Does One Learn Through Imitation? 

Imitation is technically the doing of an act which someone 
else has been seen to do, A very hasty survey of the matter 
indicates that we certainly imitate some actions of another such 
as waving the hand in good-bye, and on the other hand, we cannot 
at the first trial imitate some other actions we observe, such as 
a fancy skating act. Our chief problem is not, then, ''Do we 
imitate?" but rather ''To what extent do we imitate?'^ 

In considering this latter question, it is proper to realize first, 
that there are some actions of one person which instinctively 
cause the same actions in another. For example, the smile of a 
friend spontaneously provokes an answering smile on my lips. 
A man in a street-car chuckling over his paper will cause other 
passengers to grin sympathetically. Very frequently someone 
will begin to run as the crowd begins to come off the ferryboat, 
whereupon many quicken their pace. A man stopping on the 
street to look upward ostentatiously will soon have a crowd of 
sky-gazers around him. Many such examples of this sort of 
action can be presented, all going to show that to certain actions 
of another we instinctively respond by doing the same thing. 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 105 

Second, it is necessary to realize that there are certain actions 
of one person which' cause the same actions in another due to 
habit. After a good musical selection someone claps, and then 
many begin clapping. We have done this so often that there is a 
well-formed custom established of clapping when others clap. 
We have done here only what we have already learned to do. 

Third, we must realize that there are certain actions of one 
person which set up standards, and the actions of another are 
then brought to conform to these standards through the resulting 
satisfaction of approval or dissatisfaction of disapproval (see 
Lesson 34). Thus, if a child asking for marmalade at the 
table says ''marlid/' no response may come from the parents. 
Another attempt is made — the child says "mamalade." This 
time the spoken word is close enough to the adult standard to be 
understood by the parent, and the desired response is obtained. 
As time goes on ''marlid" will be spoken less and less and "mama- 
lade'^ more and more. The nearer the spoken word is to the 
adult standard, the quicker is the parent's response. 

In the matter of learning to speak a language it should be 
borne in mind that the vocalization of the different sounds comes 
about through random movements and not through imitation. 
The parent's pronunciation is the standard which the child 
approaches as something like a geometrical limit. Once, how- 
ever, the various sounds can be voluntarily given, i. e., are 
learned, then direct imitation may follow. But the case then 
falls under the second heading above. The child can imitate 
because he already has learned to reproduce each sound when he 
hears it. 

In other cases a certain action is witnessed, such as blowing 
smoke-rings, or fixing the hair in a certain way. If the observer 
achieves the same results, it is said that he has imitated. Really, 
he may have performed the process in an entirely different 
fashion, but the two results are similar. 

Fourth, we may actually perform new acts which we have 
never done before, after watching another do them. This is the 
aspect of imitation which it is worth while to understand in teach- 
ing. For example, if A goes to the board and draws this figure, 
■—1 B can also go and draw it, although he has never 
drawn that particular figure before. B can do it, 
however, because he has already drawn squares and 




106 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

diagonal lines. A's drawing consists of three squares and two 
diagonal lines in a certain relationship. • As B has already 
learned to do the various parts, all that he needs to do is to 
remember the relationship of the parts. Whether B can draw 
what he has seen A draw becomes primarily a problem of primary 
memory, of memory-span. If he can remember (1) three 
squares, (2) two diagonals, (3) diagonals in last two squares. 



and (4) squares in this position 
rectly. B then does nothing new 
reorganizes his old performances 



he can imitate A cor- 
in imitating A, but he 
in a new way. The 



extent to which he can carry in his mind the parte and their 
relationship to one another, is the extent to which he can imitate 
A's performance. 

This last example involves two factors; imitation and primary 
memory. From a practical standpoint imitation always involves 
primary memory, but they are distinct processes. As far as 
imitation itself is concerned, it is clear, from what has been 
said, that we can imitate another when we have already in our 
possession a bond connecting ''perception of his act" with "a, 
similar movement." In other words, we can imitate what we 
can do; we cannot imitate what we cannot do. 

The laws of primary memory determine to what extent we 
can imitate. An adult can remember six to seven very familiar, 
simple items, four to five less familiar or more complex items, 
two to three rather unfamiliar or quite complex items, and only 
one very unfamiliar or very complex item, and not always that. 
In proportion to a child's mental age, the child can remember 
very little or as much as an adult. These laws of primary 
memory underlie our ability to imitate another's action when 
each part of that action is known to us but the relationship of the 
parts is new. Anyone to whom this matter is not clear should 
experiment on a friend and determine just how complicated 
figures he can look at and then reproduce. His ability in this 
line will be found to be determined strictly by the familiarity of 
the material (through permitting him to group simple items 
into more complex wholes) and his ability to retain the 
relationships between the parts. But if the performance con- 
tains a habit which the friend has not acquired, then he will 
fail to imitate. A new habit must be learned, as all habits are 
learned, either by random movements or by stimulus substitu- 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 107 

tion. Take the case of learning to dance. If the learner has 
had no experience of a similar nature he must learn through 
random movements. The teacher can do very little here but 
present the separate movements one at a time and correct the 
random movements until they settle down to the correct moves. 
Such a learner could never imitate the whole performance of even 
a simple dance. The writer knows of a very skilful gymnast who 
learned several dances (never having danced before) in one 
afternoon. To him the various separate movements were all 
familiar, having been used in other stunts. And because they 
were very familiar, he could group the simple movements into 
complex groups and could also retain several of those complex 
groups in mind at one time. He was able to watch a dance 
performed and then repeat it with a fair degree of precision the 
first time. 

Consider another case. A little child sees me screwing a screw 
into a hole. A few minutes later I find him with a screw-driver 
and a screw endeavoring to do what he has seen me do. He can 
hold a screw-driver because he has learned to do such things. 
He can also hold a screw for the same reason. But he fails in 
turning the screw-driver. Why? Because he has not learned 
how to make this complex movement of turning his wrist. If 
he could make this movement he could learn the whole process 
through imitation. But as we do not learn new movements 
through imitation, he fails. A year or so later, when he has 
learned through trial-and-error to make this wrist movement, 
he will see the process again and then will repeat it through 
imitation. 

To What Extent Does One Learn Through Ideo-motor 

Action? 

The most often quoted statement of ideo-motor action is that 
from James. ^ ''We may lay it down for certain that every 
representation of a movement awakens in some degree the actual 
movement which is its object; and awakens it in a maximum 
degree whenever it is not kept from so doing by antagonistic 
representation present simultaneously to the mind." Whether 
one will accept this as true or not will depend on the interpreta- 

^W. James, Psychology, 1893, Vol. II, p. 526. 



108 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

tion given to its various phrases. A moment's introspection will 
convince one that the theory is well-founded at least. The 
thought of ''walking" arouses in me now a sense of muscle 
activity in my limbs. The idea "eating candy" starts a muscle 
activity in the throat, and a slight salivation. The concept 
''dancing" may result in a feeling that the muscles are limbering 
up and that the body is better balanced than usual. 

In all these cases the idea of the movement has awakened the 
movement, though only in an incipient degree. In appropriate 
situations the response is complete. Thus, when one is at the 
dinner table the thought "drinking" leads to the draining of one's 
tumbler. When one is tired, the thought of "sitting" leads one 
to seek a chair. And so on. The examples are obvious. 

So, far, then, one must agree that the ideo-motor theory is 
correct. But it has its limitations, recognized indeed by its 
original formulator. For he said, "Every idea of a movement 
awakens in some degree the actual movement." As long as the 
emphasis remains on "m some degree/^ we accept the dictum. 
As soon as that qualification is forgotten, we must reject it. 

For it seems perfectly plain that the idea of a movement that 
we cannot make can never awaken in us that movement in its 
entirety. We may have a clear idea of flying. We may get 
with that idea a fluttery sensation in the arm muscles, which is 
perhaps the movement of flying "in some degree." But we 
certainly can't fly. 

In like manner, when we have not learned a possible movement 
through trial-and-error, merely having an idea of it will not 
enable us to make that movement. Thus we may have the 
whole theory of skating carefully worked out. We may even 
have roller-skated. But on our first try on the ice we shall bump 
our heads. 

Here we may see the difficulties into which the too enthusiastic 
supporters of the ideo-motor theory have fallen. To contend, 
as they do, that new responses can be acquired simply by arous- 
ing ideas of them, is patently absurd. As in the case of imitation, 
we can make a movement only in response to an idea which is 
innately connected with it, or habitually associated. As Thorn- 
dike^ puts it, "The idea of a movement is in and of itself, unable 
to produce it. I contend that an idea does not tend to provoke 

^ E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. I, p. 177. 



41 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— SUGGESTION 109 

the act which it is an idea of, but only that which it connects with 
as a result of the laws of instinct, exercise, and effect.'^ 

The whole point of this course in psychology is to connect up 
situations with responses. Efficient remembering is dependent 
upon the fact that when a response is needed in life the situation 
to which it is tied will be present in life to call it up. To get atten- 
tion is to present situations which have responses tied to them. 
Now to suppose, as the doctrine of ideo-motor action postulates, 
that we can get a response by simply presenting a situation which 
pictures it in some way is to deny the fundamental principles 
laid down here. No description in the world will give a man 
ability to high-jump, or to play chess, or to write a poem. The 
only way he can learn to do such things is to learn to do them by 
building up a complex group of habits, by the processes already 
discussed. Of course, what has just been stated does not mean 
that, if one obtains a new idea of a complex movement from 
reading, he can not go and execute that movement provided its 
details are already known and are associated with the given 
description. Here, only the relationship between the parts of the 
idea, or between the several movements, is new. Such a rela- 
tionship can be obtained and carried into effect as we have seen. 

Summary 

To influence a person and get him to do what we desire is 
dependent, first, upon the existence of a bond connecting some 
situation with the desired response; and second, upon the presen- 
tation of the situation. When this is done, the response will 
follow, provided the person wants to so act. If he does not want 
to, a want can be suggested that will lead him to make the desired 
response. (In the next two lessons a third phase of this subject 
will be considered, in which it is necessary to do more than 
merely suggest a want.) 

There are limitations to the successful use of suggestion. An 
individual can imitate or respond through ideo-motor action to 
the extent that he can do each part of the performance upon 
seeing it done and can retain in mind the combination of parts. 
An individual will imitate or not, depending upon the presence 
of a want to do so. 



LESSON 42 
HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 

By suggestion is meant that one person suggests to another 
some want that the second desires to have satisfied, and at the 
same time presents some situation, a response to which will 
satisfy the suggested want. So a member of a crowd gathered 
about a murdered man may utter some inflammatory denuncia- 
tions of the murderer, arousing wants to injure him, and wind 
up his speech by saying ''Get a rope." And away goes the mob. 

But in using motivation one must do more than merely suggest 
an existing want; one must arouse a want. In the case cited, 
it is suggestion that is employed; the emotions of the crowd 
were already aroused. But, on the other hand, motivation would 
be used to stir up a perfectly peaceful-minded crowd to lynch 
someone. The most extreme examples of motivation are those 
to be found in some forms of propaganda, where months, 
and even years, are required before public opinion can be changed. 

As a simple illustration of motivation, consider the advertise- 
ment in Plate XXXIX. This particular advertisement can be 
easily divided into four parts: (1) picture, (2) heading, (3) copy, 
and (4) coupon. ''Now, how do these four parts affect a reader? 
Roughly we see that: 

"1. The picture arouses certain wants. The more we look 
at it the more we think of home, of father and mother, and of 
what they have done for us. All this affects particularly the 
young man away from home. 

"2. The heading intensifies these wants and adds another 
element to it — i. e., the thought of early ambitions on leaving 
home, survey of career, determination to make good, etc. 

"3. The copy further intensifies all the wants and gradually 
directs the aroused activity toward a specific act. 

"4. The coupon furnishes a specific outlet to all this aroused 
activity — i. e., to sign the coupon and mail it. 

110 



42 



HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 



111 



^^^SmtVASSyAiiSSSSSSiSiSiSSiiSSSeii^SS^^ 










Make Your Mother Proud of You 



Your mother expected big things of you. She knew that you 
had character, determination and ambition. She looked for you to 
make a career for yourself. 

ARE you making good? ARE you getting ahead the way she 
wanted you to? ARE you realizing YOUR OWN ambitions and the 
hopes or your mother, sisters, sweetheart or wife? 

Think it over ! Is your future bright, or are you in a rut where 
promotion is years away ? 

Resolve now to get ahead. Make up for 
lost time. You're never too old to karn. 
Find out how the International Correspond- 
ence Schools can help you to realize your 
ambitions. 



r, 



INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS 

Box SCRANTON, PA. 

Explain, without further obligation On my part, how 
I can qualify for the position before which I mark X 



Get Ahead More Quickly i 

Success is merely a matter of training. I 
To earn more, you must knoW more. Get | 
the training that will qualify you for a better 
job. More than 1,000 men of all ages and in 
all circumstances get better jobs every month I 
as a result of I. C. S. training, in spare-hour I 
study. You can do the same. 

Get ahead more quickly. Fit yourself for 
the future that you prefer. Learn how easily j Name. 
you can fit yourself for a better salary. 

Mark the Coupon 



SaJesmanship 
Electrical Engineer 
Elec. Lighting Supt. 
Electric Car Running 
Electric Wireman 
Telephone Expert 
Architect 

Building Contractor 
Architectural Draftdinan 
Structural Engineer 
Concrete Construction 
Mechan. Engineer 
Mechanical Drattamao 
Rcfrlg^erattoQ Eoglneer 
Civil Engineer 
Surveyor 

Mine Superintendent 
Metal Mining 
Locomotive Fireman & Eng. 
Stationary Engineer 
Textile Manufacturing 
Gas Engines 



Civil Service 
Railway Mail Clerk 
Bookkeeping 
.SteDographyi Typewriting 
Window Trimming 
Show Card Writing 
LetterlDf & Slga PaiDlLog 
Advertising 
Commercial lUoilratlnr 
Industrial Designing 
Commercial Law 
Automobile Runnii.g 
Teacher 

English Branches 
(•oodED^Jlsb (or Everj Ooe 
Agriculture 
Poultry Farming 
PIiimblDe & SleamTlttlop 
hbfot Slf tsf Horker 
NavipailoQ Spaalsh 

Languages French 

Chemist OcrmsD 



Presen t Occupation- 
Street and No. 



Plate XXXIX. — Illustrating Simple Motivation. 



112 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

"Now consider in greater detail the role that each of the four 
parts plays: 

"1. The picture appeals directly to the parental instinct (for 
love of parents is a modification of the instinct which makes us 
love our own children); also to some degree it appeals to the 
mastering and fighting instinct. And as the picture is studied, 
many of the richest and most familiar of childhood memories 
come to mind. 

''2. The heading directly arouses the mastering and fighting 
instincts and further intensifies the parental instinct. We are 
expected to make good by our parents and we determine to do so. 

*' 3. The copy starts out by stimulating further all these instinc- 
tive activities and then gradually presents a way in which all 
this activity may be worked out in a satisfactory manner. 

"4. The coupon makes it extremely easy for us to make the 
first step in the desired direction."^ 

Expressing all this in other terms, we have: 

First, arousing wants, i. e., to do something for mother and 
father, to make good, etc. 

Second, presenting a situation which can be reacted to in terms 
of these wants, and, at the same time, leads to the response the 
advertiser hopes for. It should be noted that the more wants 
are aroused and the less they can be adequately expressed as 
responses to the situation presented, the less likely the indi- 
vidual will be to do as desired and the more likely he will be to do 
something else. So, after reading the advertisement, a young 
man may return to day school, or attend a night school, or go to 
college, or work harder in business, or start saving, or stop 
gambling, or take a course in some other correspondence school 
with which he is more familiar. But if the presented situation 
appeals as an appropriate one to respond to in terms of the 
aroused wants, the reader will sign the coupon and send it to this 
correspondence school. 

Third, making the desired action easy. — Human beings hesi- 
tate to make a new move. Therefore, the easier it is for them 
to start the more likely it is that they will start. So a coupon 
secures more replies than the same advertisement without one. 

Assignment. — 1. Prepare an introduction to Lesson 8 which 
will motivate students so as to tackle that experiment with enthu- 

^ E. K. Strong, Jr., Psychology of Selling Life Insurance, 1922, p. 152ff. 



42 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 113 

siasm. Your introduction should not occupy more than three- 
fourths of a printed page. 

2. State clearly just what wants you have attempted to arouse. 

3. State clearly just what situation you have attempted to 
present which should afford a satisfying response on the part of 
students to the wants you have aroused. 



LESSON 43 

HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 

(continued) 

Four methods of getting another to do what is desired have 
been discussed. First, if there is no bond between a stimulus 
and a response, it must be developed through learning, as other- 
wise, when the stimulus is presented to an individual, he cannot 
make that response. In Lessons 40 and 41 it was shown that 
such bonds cannot be formed through imitation, although the 
reorganization of a system of bonds can result in that way. 
Second, if the bond is strong enough and if the individual wants 
to respond to a situation, then he will respond when the situation 
is presented. Third, if the bond is strong efiough but the 
individual does not want to respond, in many cases he can be 
made to act by suggesting some appropriate want when the 
situation is encountered. It is because of the want that he 
acts, but it is because of the present stimulus that he makes 
the specific response desired. " This method of getting another to 
do what one desires is called suggestion. 

The fourth method of getting another to do what is desired is 
motivation. It differs from suggestion only in the respect that 
the want cannot be merely suggested, but must be more or less 
built up on the basis of instinctive wants. 

Nature of Motivation 

In Lesson 36 a sentiment was shown to be ''a system of emo- 
tional tendencies centered about some object," or the association 
of an idea and a want (emotion). Suggestion and motivation 
may both be viewed as processes whereby a sentiment is deUber- 
ately developed — an idea and a want deliberately associated. 
But, as pointed out just above, in the case of suggestion the want 
can be easily aroused and associated with the desired action, 
whereas in the case of motivation the want cannot be so easily 

115 



116 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

aroused nor associated with the desired behavior. Also, inmost 
cases of suggestion the sentiment is of a fleeting, transitory sort — 
a truly permanent sentiment does not result. 

A very clear illustration of motivation has been given in con- 
nection with the International Correspondence School advertise- 
ment in the preceding lesson. Lesson I of this text is another 
example, presented by the author in order to get you, the reader, 
interested in doing the work of the course. 

Consider another illustration of motivation taken from an 
actual case of selling a dentist an educational policy. (An edu- 
cational policy is a form of life insurance whereby if the parent 
does not live the child will receive a certain amount on the first 
of September and of February for four years, commencing, say, 
at eighteen years of age, thereby guaranteeing the child's educa- 
tion. If the father lives, the policy continues like any other 
policy.) Dr. Barnes, the dentist, was very much interested 
in his alma mater and in his boy. He had a wife and two daugh- 
ters, who are not provided for in this particular policy. 

''After introducing himself, Bagley, the insurance salesman, 
says, 'I believe you have a son. Of course he's not old enough to 
go to college yet, is he?' ('Son' arouses parental instinct; 'col- 
lege' arouses a very strong acquired interest.) Barnes replies 
with a laugh that the boy isn't old enough to go to college. 

"Bagley next discusses college education. After some con- 
versation he links college education with life insurance. The 
combination is a new idea to Barnes. Being new, he can't 
react to it. So he must reply in some such way as, 'I don't 
understand just what you mean.' Bagley then proceeds to 
explain the plan. As he demonstrates his proposition he also 
continues to arouse Barnes's instinctive and acquired interests. 
Note these phrases which have been picked out from the salestalk: 

"'Educational policy insures your boy a college education.' 

" 'Scale of living to which you have accustomed your family — • 
not sufficient income to support family, if you die, and send boy to 
college.' 

"'You would feel happier to know that his college education 
was provided for.' 

"'A high-spirited boy would probably hesitate to allow his 
mother to send him to college if it involved sacrifice on his 
mother's part.' 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 117 

'"Working his way through college . . . a distinct handicap ; 
studies suffer, no matter how conscientious and industrious he 
may be/ 

'''About one father in five does not live long enough to see 
his boy through college.' 

"'Doctor Kellar — his boy no longer at Taft School — going 
to college will be a source of some embarrassment to him and 
to his mother.' (Very indirect appeal to mastering instinct.) 

"'Your boy . . . benefit of college ... no sacrifice by 
mother . . . independent of anyone . . . college work will 
not suffer.' 

"'Is there anything that would make him more appreciative 
of his father, anything that would more surely tend to keep alive 
in his heart all his life a deep affection and high regard for the 
memory of his father? The fact that his father had the fore- 
sight and the sense of responsibility and the love for him to 
provide for his college education would seem to him the most 
certain evidence of all that his father was the kind of father he 
had always believed him to be.' (Direct appeal to parental and 
mastering instincts, also indirect appeal to desire for approval, 
which Bagley is implying will or will not be given him according 
as he buys or not.)"^ 

Here, as in the case of the International Correspondence 
School advertisement, wants have been aroused (to send boy to 
college, to do something for boy, to protect wife and family, 
to secure approval); and a situation presented to which he can 
respond and thereby satisfy all these wants. 

Motivation a Socially Useful or Dangerous Tool 

Consider two other examples of motivation. The first one 
is reported in the Survey of November, 1919, as part of the 
speech of Mother Jones, who has always exerted a powerful 
influence over strikers. 

"We're going to have a hell of a fight here, boys," she said. 
"We are to find out whether Pennsylvania belongs to Gary or to 
Uncle Sam. If it belongs to Gary we are going to take it away 
from him. We can scare and starve and lick the whole gang 
when we get ready . . . The eyes of the world are on us today. 
They want to see if America can make the fight . . . Our boys 
went over there. You were told to clean up the Kaiser. Well, 

^ E. K. Strong, Jr., Psychology of Selling Life Insurance, 1922, p. 163ff. 



118 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

you did it. And now we're going to clean up the damned Kaiser 
at home . . . They sit up and smoke seventy-five cent cigars 
and have a lackey bring them champagne. They have stomachs 
two miles long and two miles wide, and we fill them . . . 
Remember when all was dark in Europe and Columbus said, 'I 
see a new land,' they laughed. But the Queen of Spain sold 
her jewels and Columbus went to it . . . He died in poverty, 
but he gave us this nation and you and I aren't going to let 
Gary take it from us . . . If he wants fourteen hours he can go 
in and work it himself . . . We don't want guns. We want 
to destroy guns. We want honest men to keep the peace. We 
want music and playgrounds and the things to make life worth 
while . . . Now, you fellows go on out. I want to talk to 
the other boys." 

That sort of speech gets action. It is an example of motiva- 
tion. But the use of motivation is not limited to such stump 
oratory. It is present in our highest examples of appeal. Con- 
sider the following: — 

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon 
this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to 
the proposition that all men are created equal. 

''Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We 
have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting- 
place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might 
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

''But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse- 
crate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and 
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor 
power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long 
remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did 
here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so 
nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 
great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we 
take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last 
full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these 
dead shall not have have died in vain; that this nation, under God, 
shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 119 

the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
from the earth/' 

Compare these two speeches, both of which arouse emotion. 
The former does so by direct appeals to the basic native wants of 
man, the latter by appeals to the loftiest sublimations of man's 
instinctive nature. 

Before attempting to evaluate motivation, two further impli- 
cations should be noted. First of all, ''any emotional element 
can be associated with any specific line of action. Practically, 
certain combinations are difficult to accomplish, but theoretic- 
ally, they are possible. Thus, the correspondence school arouses 
the boy's love for his mother and challenges him to make her 
proud of him and 'funnels' the aroused emotional desire into 
taking a correspondence course. The same appeal could be 
utilized to get young men to go to church, to quit gambling, to 
work harder for their employers, to enlist when war is declared, to 
do anything the boy could be made to believe his mother would 
approve of." 

Second, "No logical connection needs to exist between the 
emotion which is aroused and the program which is outlined. 
And further still, there need be no logical establishment of the 
fact that the program is really the best one to be pursued, or even 
that it is honestly conceived . . . The detailed suffering of a 
little girl and her kitten can motivate our hatred against the 
Germans, arouse our sympathy for the Armenians, make us 
enthusiastic for the Red Cross, or lead us to give money to sup- 
port a home for cats. The story may be true or concocted for the 
purpose; the inferences against the Germans or for the home for 
cats may also be true or false; the organization carrying on the 
propaganda may be efficiently administered or not — all these 
considerations little concern us. We feel the embtion, we want 
to do something because by acting we will feel better, and away 
we go regardless of mere intellectual considerations."^ 

Today motivation, usually called propaganda when employed 
on a large scale, can be controlled in some respects. But such 
control is restricted very largely to punishment of those who state 
what is not true, as in dishonest advertising or libel. Society 
has not worked out methods of evaluating the use of emotion 

^ E. K. Strong, Jr., "Control of Propaganda as a Psychological Problem," 
Scientific Monthly, Mar., 1922. 



120 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

and consequently can do little to control propaganda skillfully 
carried on. It is accordingly possible today for a group to carry 
on a very subtle propaganda with the immediate aim of develop- 
ing some sentiment (public opinion of a certain sort) and only 
later on to secure action in terms of the sentiment. ''So France 
mourned at the Strassburg statue in Paris each year and kept 
alive the sentiment to retake Alsace-Lorraine. Of course, we 
completely sympathize with her. But it made Germany prepare 
all the more for war, and the world sat back and looked on while 
Germany established the sentiment in the minds and hearts of 
her citizens that they lived only for the Fatherland and that was 
the truest expression of their country's life . . . The existence 
of a sentiment in Great Britain that treaties to which they were a 
party must be observed, was one important factor in forcing 
that nation into war with Germany when the latter violated the 
neutrality of Belgium. As Sir Edward Grey said, 'My God, what 
else could we do?'"' Because of the absence of an appropriate 
sentiment the United States did not declare war in 1914. During 
the next three years such a sentiment developed and was finally 
put into action in a calmer and far less emotional state of mind 
than usually prevails at the outbreak of war. 

This condition is a challenge to society to find ways to cope 
with such fearfully complex problems. It also, at the same time, 
illustrates what may be accomplished by those who endeavor 
to build up socially worth-while sentiments. For through the 
agency of such sentiments much of society's advance is made. 

Is there any way at all of evaluating motivation? Theo- 
retically, yes; but practically, in a great many cases, no. The 
distinction between wants and needs, pointed out in Lesson 31, 
is of aid here. Motivation, aimed to accomplish what is not 
needed by an individual or by society, is undesirable; whereas 
that aimed to accomplish what is needed is desirable. Business 
men are more and more evaluating their sales programs in terms 
of service to the customer, which is another way of expressing 
the idea of need. Theoretically, then, we have a guide to the 
evaluation of motivation. But practically speaking in many 
cases it is just as difficult to determine what is needed by an 
individual, a group, or by society as a whole, as it is to evaluate 
the motivation itself. Patrick Henry's speech, for example, was 

^ E. K. Strong, Jr., op. cit. 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 121 

good motivation from the standpoint of the Revolutionists, but 
not from the standpoint of Enghsh sympathizers. 

Limitation of space makes it impossible to follow this interest- 
ing topic further. Suffice it to add, that one of the greatest 
problems of educators is to determine what are the most socially- 
worth-while sentiments that man and woman must have and 
then to see to it that they are developed. 

Motivation Needed in Public School 

Teachers must needs motivate their work. There is no other 
way by which pupils will do disagreeable, difficult tasks which in 
themselves bring no satisfaction at the moment. All teachers 
motivate their work whether they know it or not, although some 
may and have used very little motive other than fear of punish- 
ment or dread of disapproval. The problem of motivation is 
then, first, how most skillfully to motivate the work and, second, 
how to develop the students so that higher and higher motives 
may be employed. The practical working-out of these two 
points belongs properly in the field of pedagogy. Enough has 
been presented here to enable the teacher to develop this matter 
for himself. If stock could be taken once a month of the motives 
one employs in his teaching, and the extent to which children 
respond to them, a teacher would soon know what sorts of motives 
he was employing and whether or not his students were steadily 
being trained in responding to higher and higher motives. 

The study of Burke's speech on ''Conciliation with America" 
is notoriously a difficult matter to teach in High School because 
it is so dry and uninteresting to the students. Apparently it has 
no prepotent elements within itself. The first step in teaching 
it should be, then, to supply some outside prepotent elements. 
Suppose that some time were spent at the start reviewing, first, 
the situation which existed between the Colonies and Great 
Britain, emphasizing the fighting aspect; and second, recounting 
a number of occasions in which a great speech has influenced a 
nation's destiny. Then drive home the facts that here was a 
man fighting for his country, just as much a fighter as Corn- 
wallis or Howe; that possibly this speech played as large a part 
in the struggle between Great Britain and the colonies as many a 
battle. Next bring out how men fight with words instead of 
fists; and the extent to which this sort of fighting enters into the 



122 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

government of the United States. Finally proceed to see how 
this man, Burke, fought. And then ignore a httle the '' apprecia- 
tion '^ of similes and metaphors, and let the boys appreciate the 
speech in their own way — a way necessarily quite different from 
that of women, and especially here where the fighting instinct is 
uppermost. If this plan is carried out with any degree of enthu- 
siasm, you will not need to worry about ''attention." There will 
be plenty of reactions. 

In addition to getting children to perform the intellectual tasks 
that are set them, and to come to do these tasks on a higher and 
higher motive basis, the educator must needs develop sentiments, 
or ideals, or abstract conceptions which will actually control 
conduct. In all such cases the individual is acting in terms not 
of immediate satisfaction but of remote satisfaction. Certain 
sentiments were discussed in Lesson 36 and should be reviewed 
at this point. Still other such ''systems of ideas and emotions" 
may be noted here. Take the case of cleanliness. Apparently 
the only instincts toward cleanliness are the tendencies to lick 
the mouth when dirty and to keep the fingers free from sticky 
objects. It is certain that children show no further instinctive 
desires for cleanliness. Boys are notoriously lacking in any 
interest in cleanliness until the mating instinct awakens interest 
in their personal appearance. Nevertheless, cleanliness is today 
among most individuals one of the strongest acquired elements 
to which we react. This is due to the fact that cleanliness is 
widely emphasized and appreciated. So universal is it to be 
clean that the person with a dirty collar, an unshaven face, or 
untidy shoes, is immediately looked down upon as inferior. 
Just as it is important to train children to be clean, so it is 
essential that they be trained to react in terms of sentiments or 
ideals such as patriotism, honesty, persistency, truth, support 
of charity, "work for future success," etc. All such must be 
learned; they are not instinctive tendencies. 

In this republic of ours it is absolutely essential that majority- 
rule shall be prepotent. Consider by how small a majority 
Wilson triumphed over Hughes! A Democratic plurality of 
591,000 votes in a total of 18,500,000, a superiority of 23 electoral 
votes among 531. Consider also the prizes at stake. And how 
quickly the American public acquiesced in the results! There 
was not a suggestion of rebellion. Compare the conduct of the 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 123 

American people in this respect with that of the Mexicans. In 
the one country majority-rule is a dominant sentiment. The 
slightest appeal to it results in a response to it. In Mexico this 
element is not dominant. Too often the minority have ruled. 
Too often a rebellion has been successful. An election there 
does not settle a controversy because just such sentiments 
are lacking, and in their place are elements leading to armed 
revolt. 

Development of Ideals. — Bagley has expressed this matter 
very clearly in his chapter, ''The Development of. Ideals the 
Chief Work of Education."^ The quotations that follow are 
from this chapter. 

''It would probably be difficult to overestimate the importance 
of ideals in civilized life. They are the dominant forces in all 
the great movements of history. Races and nations are dis- 
tinguished from one another by their ideals far more than by 
their inherent physical and mental peculiarities. In spite of 
the elements that foreign nations have contributed and are con- 
tributing to the American people, our nation is distinctly individ- 
ual because it has its individual ideals. The German, the 
Celtic, the Slavic, and the Romance ingredients become indis- 
tinguishable after two generations because their distinctive race 
or national ideals have dropped and the American ideal has been 
assimilated. That the Jewish people still maintain their racial 
characteristics is due to the fact that their great ethnic ideals 
are cherished from generation to generation with a tenacity that 
no other people of history have even approximated. 

"The esprit de corps that is expressed in loyalty to one's school 
or college is another type of ideal that functions effectively in 
spurring one on to greater effort. The college or the university 
that can imbue its students with such loyalty is doing much more 
to equip them for the battle of life than the institution that 
simply instructs, no matter how faithfully that instruction may 
be imparted. It is largely for this reason that the personal 
influence of teacher and professor counts for far more in the long 
run than the mere mechanical advantages of hbraries and labora- 
tories and work shops. 

"It is safe to assert, then, that the main aim in education is to 
instill ideals that will function as judgments, and that in one 
1 W. C. Bagley, The Educative Process, 1905. 



124 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



1 



sense at least, the subject-matter of instruction must be totally 
subservient to this aim. . . . 

"It is difficult adequately to define in psychological terms just 
what we mean by the word 'ideal/ yet it is essential that the 
notion be made as definite and tangible as possible if the dangers 
of loose thinking, to which educational science is so prone, are to 
be avoided. The following analysis, although quite independent 
from the psychological standpoint, may serve this purpose in 
some measure. 

" (1) An ideal is a type of condensed experience. It is the 
upshot of a multitude of reactions and adjustments, both individ- 
ual and racial. 

'' (2) Because it represents condensed experience, it is commonly 
formulated as a proposition or conceptual judgment. For 
example — 'All men are created free and equal'. ... Or it 
may be attached to a single word as 'honor,' 'chastity,' 'truth,' 
patriotism,' and the like. 

" (3) As a condensed experience, it functions in the process of 
judgment. It serves as a conscious guide to conduct, especially 
in novel and critical situations. It functions in the initiation of 
specific habits, and such habits once formed may be said to 
harmonize with the ideal; but ideals themselves do not function 
as habit, although the judgments that are based upon them may 
often be of the 'intuitive' type. 

" (4) The development of an ideal is both an emotional and an 
intellectual process, but the emotional element is by far the more 
important. Ideals that lack the emotional coloring are simply 
intellectual propositions and have little directive force upon 
conduct." 

An appeal like patriotism can be made very strong, can be 
made to arouse great emotion, because it is based on many 
strong instincts, such as the fighting instinct, the maternal instinct 
(protection of the weak and defenseless), the mating instinct 
(protection of wife or sweetheart), etc. The ideal expressed 
by the words, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the 
earth," is, on the other hand, hard for us all to enter into, for it 
is on a higher plane than our instinctive behavior and we should 
have to struggle against ourselves in order to reach it. 

The indifferent teacher will consciously introduce the strong, 
primitive, instinctive elements, and so appeal largely to low 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 125 

motives. The teacher of power and strength will appeal to a 
great variety of instinctive elements and, moreover, will con- 
stantly keep building those very substantial elements up into 
more and more highly developed forms. Compare the two 
following expressions of success. 

IT CAN BE DONE 

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, 

But he with a chuckle replied, 
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one 

Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. 
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin 

On his face. If he worried, he hid it. 
He started to sing as he tackled the thing 

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that — 

At least, no one ever has done it." 
But he took off his coat and took off his hat, 

And the first thing he knew he'd begun it, 
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin. 

If any doubt arose he forbid it; 
He started to sing as he tackled the thing, 

That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done. 

There are thousands to prophesy failure; 
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, 

The dangers that wait to assail you, 
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin, 

Then take off your coat and go to it. 
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing 

That cannot be done and you'll do it!^ 

Success 

*'He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often 
and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men 
and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and 
accomplished his task — who has left the world better than he 
found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a 
rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's 

^ An even better example of this sort of motivation is Elbert Hubbard's 
famous Message to Garcia. 



126 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best 
in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspira- 
tion; whose memory a benediction." — Stanley. 

The ideals in the poem are based principally on the fighting 
instinct. It will stir people whom the second quotation will not 
influence at all. But with the first as a guide one could do almost 
anything dishonorable and still consider himself a success pro- 
vided ''he got there." And ^'getting there" might consist 
merely in gaining control of all the grocery business in a city, 
by driving every competitor to the wall, or by selling inferior 
or unclean goods. The little poem has its place, its value. But 
it motivates life on a low plane. Stanley's definition of success, 
on the other hand, calls for a much higher type of life. 

Ideals are undoubtedly developed by instruction. Much more 
can be done in this direction than has been done in the past. 
But certainly a considerable part of all the development of 
ideals will always be obtained not from one's elders but from one's 
equals. A mother may comment on the dirt in her son's ears 
for fifteen years with apparently little eft'ect, but a slight refer- 
ence to the subject from a girl will probably never be forgotten, 
judging from the condition of those ears throughout the remainder 
of life. In the same way dormitory rules or faculty regulations 
are broken, even on purpose, whenever the student dares. But 
when the same rules are laid down by the students themselves 
they are ordinarily lived up to with surprising faithfulness. It 
is because of these facts that student government in one form 
or another has grown so prevalent in the last few years. It is 
realized that moral standards are more quickly and more effec- 
tually established when the students are themselves the origin- 
ators and enforcers of these standards. In many an institution 
where the honor system is supported by student government — 
not faculty government with a veneer of student organization — 
a student would much rather fail than cheat. To cheat would 
be to debase himself in the eyes of his comrades to such a point 
that he could never face them again. 

In attempting to train students to distinguish between right 
and wrong, the teacher, besides setting up standards of her own, 
should endeavor by all means to develop a group-consciousness, 
to lead the class to work out its own ideals of conduct. In this 
way the guilty individual will be jud'ged and convicted by his 



43 HOW TO INFLUENCE OTHERS— MOTIVATION 127 

peers, from whom there is no appeal. The skilful teacher 
can then gradually, by tactful suggestions, little by little raise 
the standard as the students grow older, if such needs to be done. 
Ordinarily children develop their own standards as fast as they 
are ready to respond to them. 

There are some cases where a child's moral standards seem 
wrong to an adult. For example, all normal adolescent children 
regard it as unethical to 'Hell on" a wrong-doer. This is wrong 
from the adult, civilized point of view. The good citizen must 
help to enforce the law, must not help to break down the very 
laws he has himself enacted. But the child cannot see it this 
way. The true teacher will consider his point of view and will not 
overrule his standards in this respect. Given a real government 
of his own to support, the child will, after a time, begin to see 
that the adult point of view is logically correct and will come to 
espouse it. 

Development of Initiative. — The following extract from Wood- 
worth's discussion of initiative is excellent. Speaking of the task 
of the manager of an industrial enterprise, he says, ''It is his 
business to get action from people who come into the enterprise as 
servants. The main difficulty with the master-servant relation 
is that the servant has so little play for his own self-assertion. 
The master sets the goal, and the servant has submissively to 
accept it. This is not his enterprise, and therefore he is likely to 
show little 'pep' in his work. He can be driven to a certain 
extent by fear and economic want; but better results, and the 
best condition generally, can be expected from such management 
as enlists the individual's own will. He must be made to feel that 
the enterprise is his, after all. He must feel that he is fairly 
treated, and that he receives a just share of the proceeds. He 
must be interested in the purposes of the concern and in the 
operations on which he is engaged. Best of all, perhaps, some 
responsibility and initiative must be delegated to him. When 
the master, not contented with setting the main goal, insists on 
bossing every detail, continually interfering in the servant's work, 
the servant has the least possible chance of adopting the job as his 
own. But where the master is able, in the first place, to show the 
servant the objective need and value of the goal, and to leave the 
initiative in respect to ways and means to the servant, looking 
to him for results, the servant often responds by throwing himself 



128 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

into the enterprise- as if it were his own — as indeed, it properly 
is in such a case. 

" 'Initiative' — that high-grade trait that is so much in demand — 
seems to be partly a matter of imagination and partly of will. 
It demands inventiveness in seeing what can be done, zest for 
action, and an independent and masterful spirit. 

''The physician who treats 'nervous' or neurotic cases has his 
problem of getting action from his patients. Strange as it may 
seem, these cases, while bemoaning their unfortunate condition, 
cling to it as if it had its compensations, and do not wholeheart- 
edly will to get well. They have slumped into the attitude of 
invalidism, and need re-orientation towards the goal of health 
and accomplishment. How to bring this about is the great prob- 
lem. Much depends here on the personality of the physician, 
and different physicians (as well as mental healers outside the 
medical profession) employ different technique with more or 
less of success. The first necessity is to win the patients' confi- 
dence; after that, some use persuasion, some suggestion, some 
psychoanalysis, some (non-medical practitioners) use metaphys- 
ical doctrines designed to lead the patient to 'hitch his wagon to a 
star/ On the intellectual side, these methods agree in giving 
the patient a new perspective, in which weakness, ill health and 
maladaptation are seen to be small, insignificant and unnecessary, 
and health and achievement desirable and according to the nature 
of things; while on the side of impulse they probably come 
together in appealing to the masterful and self-assertive tendency, 
either by putting the subject on his mettle, or by leading him 
to partake of the determined, masterful attitude of the physician, 
or by making him feel that he is one with the great forces of the 
universe. Methods that psychologically are very similar to 
these are employed by the clergyman in dealing with morally 
flabby or maladjusted individuals; and the courts are beginning 
to approach the delinquent from the same angle. All the 
fact« seem to indicate that the way to get action is to have a 
goal that 'fires the imagination' and enlists the masterful ten- 
dencies of human nature.^' ^ 

1 R. S. Woodworth, Psychology, 1921, p. 544ff. 



LESSON 44 

IN WHAT SEQUENCE SHOULD MATERIAL BE 
PRESENTED? 

The general problem to be discussed in this and the following 
lesson is: In what sequence should situations be presented so as 
best to bring about the desired reactions? This involves so 
many complicating factors that it is impossible to study it 
experimentally without devoting a good many hours to it alone. 
Consequently three short experiments have been selected which 
bear on certain aspects of the problem. The first experiment 
emphasizes certain factors which determine the difficulty of one 
assignment as compared with another. The second and third 
experiments illustrate the varying ways in which different 
individuals respond to the same stimuli. 

All three experiments will be conducted by the instructor as 
group experiments. Take note of the procedure in each case and 
of the data recorded on the board. Then work out your interpre- 
tations of the results. As an aid to the latter, consider these 
questions : 

1. What factor or factors determine the ease of response to the 
stimuli in Experiment 1? 

2. All of the words in Experiment 2 could have been responded 
to in the same way by the members of your class. Why was 
this not the case? What factors affected the response? 

3. Which advertisements were the best remembered? Which 
were the least remembered? Why? 

Apply the principles you have deduced here to the problem of 
determining the order of presentation of material in a lessonor 
course of study. 



129 



I 



p 



LESSON 45 

IN WHAT SEQUENCE SHOULD MATERIAL BE PRE- 
SENTED?— INTEGRATION 

Before attempting to answer the problem in this lesson it is 
necessary to consider the topic of Integration. 

It will be recalled that in Lesson 18 learning through reorgani- 
zation was discussed in terms of: Associative shifting, i. e., linking 
elements together through the use of old established bonds — 
thus hund and dog were linked together by way of the associations 
hund-hound and hound-dog; short-circuiting, or eliminating 
steps that were essential in the early stages of learning but not 
later on; and integration. Discussion of this third method of 
reorganization was reserved for this lesson. 

Integration 

Two kinds of integrations will be distinguished : (a) hierarchy 
of habits and (b) perceptions. 

Hierarchy of Habits. — Take the case of learning to typewrite 
by the touch system. Book^ reports that in the first lesson 
writing involved (1) getting the letter to be hit, (2) actually 
thinking or pronouncing it, (3) mentally locating it on the key- 
board, (4) getting the proper finger to the key, and (5) initiating 
the final letter-making movement. Each of these five steps 
was gone through in writing each letter, so that in the expression 
''yours truly" there were involved at least fifty distinct steps. 

As practice continued, however, these five steps in the writing 
of one letter on the typewriter were fused into one performance 
so that when ''y" was seen the forefinger of the right hand hit 
the appropriate key. This fusion took place very largely in 
terms of short-circuiting. The first two steps fused into one step 
and the pronouncing of the letter dropped out. The third and 
fourth fused also. And these two fusions fused together with 
step five. 

1 W. F. Book, The Psychology of Skill, 1908. 

131 



132 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Soon the learner ceased to hit one letter at a time as he looked 
at the letters in the copy, and began hitting several letters one 
after the other in response to looking at a word as a whole. He 
had then advanced from the letter stage to the word stage. 
Finally, in the expert stage, the writer reacts to phrases as a 
whole instead of single words. So the ten letters in the two 
words "yours truly" would be hit one after the other very quickly, 
the writer not fixing his attention at all on any of the separate 
movements. 

Plate XL pictures all this in a rough approximation to the true 
relations. The learner starts to perform the ten-times-five 
separate movements. These are coordinated into ten groups, 
corresponding to letters. Then the letter groups are coordinated 
into word groups and finally word groups are coordinated into a 
phrase group. But the expert in writing "yours truly" does 
not make the original fifty separate movements. He makes far 
less than that number and he does not make movements exactly 
like those he originally started with. Due to short-circuiting, 
the elements are combined into new units, and into much more 
complex units than were originally present. In other words, at 
the beginning of practice there was a situation which led to the 
first response (movement #1 of Y), then a second situation 
leading to movement #2, etc. In the latter stage the first five 
situations were transformed into one situation leading to writing 
"Y;" and in the word stage, the five letter situations were 
transformed into one situation leading to the response of writing 
"yours. " The unit to which the learner responds becomes more 
and more complex, and the unit of response becomes more and 
more complex and different from its original separate parts. 

A hierarchy of habits is a grouping and fusing of simple habits 
into habits of higher and higher orders. As each higher-order 
habit becomes fully developed it operates as a psychological 
unit. The lower habits become more and more unconsciously 
performed. This explains why most experts are unable to 
describe how they typewrite, use a plane, drive an automobile, 
or do any complicated act. They have forgotten the stages 
they passed through in learning and are conscious only of the 
process as a whole. 

A digression for a moment is in order. As the learner pro- 
ceeds from one stage to the next he must gradually pay less and 
less attention to the lower habits and more and more attention 



46 



SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 



133 



to the fusion. If he does not make this change in attention he 
will not advance in his learning. If on the other hand, he fails 
to give sufficient attention to the lower habits while in thistransi- 



Yoar5 



Yours Truly 



Truly 




Plate XL. — Diagrammatic Illustration of a Hierarchy of Habits. 

tion stage, he will not perform the lower habits correctly. Herein 
Ues the explanation of many so-called careless errors in learning. 
A very good illustration of such errors appears when students 
are clearing equations in algebra, and they attempt to do two or 



134 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

more steps at the same time, instead of doing each one separately. 
In such a case they should be encouraged to attempt the more 
complex work, but also be held to account for their slips. Possibly 
the best procedure is to have them check back each time after 
having worked the problem in the new way. In other words, 
they must be encouraged to push ahead, but the new hierarchy 
will not develop until the lower habits function properly. It 
is just this condition that causes many of the plateaus in learning. 
For further increase in speed or accuracy is impossible until the 
new integrations are well organized. 

Study of the psychology of the nervous system suggests that 
each higher-order habit represents the activity of new nerve cells 
that take over the control of the nerve cells involved in the lower- 
order habits. Speaking is a skilled process involving the use 
of muscles in the throat and mouth. It appears that a certain 
portion of the cortex of the brain is concerned with control of the 
movements of the mouth, tongue, and larynx, that another 
portion of the cortex directly in front controls the skilled move- 
ments of speaking a word, that another portion combines the 
word movements into the still more complex movements of 
speaking a sentence, and that still another section farther for- 
ward combines the movements of speaking sentences so as to 
secure greater fluency and excellence of speaking. 

One of the fundamental laws of human behavior is then that 
with continued practice separate responses become integrated 
into more and more highly organized units. This was found to 
be the case in learning mirror-drawing. At the start any number 
of random movements appeared. As learning progressed these 
became fewer and fewer in number, and if the practice had con- 
tinued long enough they would have disappeared. But some of 
these movements hit on through random trying were essential 
to the whole process. These were retained and would have 
become fused with the old habitual movements incident to 
holding a pencil, to drawing, to guiding the hand by means of the 
eye, etc. The same is true of all learning. Swinging Indian 
clubs or dancing is at first a matter of making separate move- 
ments. Later it is simply a matter of making sweeping complex 
movements. 

Perception. — We have seen how movements are controlled 
through the building-up of more and more complex habits. Let 



46 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 135 

US turn now and consider how the incoming sensations from our 
sense-organs are elaborated. These elaborations are called 
perceptions. We speak of the perception of a chair or type- 
writer when we refer to its appearance. Here consciousness 
is focused upon the combining of certain incoming sensations 
and the ignoring of others. All the sensations set up by the 
chair are grouped and those from floor and walls are not reacted 
to.. 

Consider how a percept is developed. For example, a rattle is 
placed before a baby. The retinas of the eyes are stimulated. 
As a response the eyes are focused on the object, visual sensations 
are experienced, and the baby reaches for the rattle. As the 
fingers close about the rattle the skin is stimulated. Certain new 
cutaneous^ and kinaesthetic^ sensations are experienced. These 
in turn cause further manipulatory movements causing new 
cutaneous, kinaesthetic, visual, and auditory sensations. The 
noise of the rattle is responded to by' reflex movements of the 
baby's head so as to hear better and by consciousness of the 
auditory sensations. 

Thus the baby plays with the rattle for many hours. After a 

(time any one of the stimulations through touch, vision, or hear- 
ing will immediately call up any one or all of the responses that 
have been experienced (due to the principle of stimulus-sub- 
stitution). In this way the percept of a rattle becomes estab- 
lished. In other words, seeing or hearing or touching a rattle 
becomes associated with how it appears, sounds, and feels, 
combined into a unitary consciousness of the whole object. 
Possibly better illustrations of perception for adults are these 
expressions: ''I saw the fire engines going up our street last 
night," or ''I saw the square table." Actually I don't do what 
I say. I didn't see the fire department at all; actually I heard 
a clanging and whizzing noise growing louder and louder and 
then dying away. I have at other times actually seen the 
engines out of the window,, but this time I mentally saw them in 

^ Cutaneous stimulations are stimulations affecting the skin, giving one, 
in terms of consciousness, touch, pain, warmth, and cold, and combinations 
of these. (Lesson 52 will present the subject in more detail.) 

2 Kineaesthetic stimulations are stimulations affecting sense-organs 
located in and about the muscles and joints, giving one, in terms of conscious- 
ness, movement, weight, pressure, etc. 



136 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

response to the sounds. Never have I actually seen a square 
table. I can't get a table in a position so that all the angles 
appear to be right angles (a photograph will prove this). But 
because I know the table to have right angles from having 
handled it, I so interpret my sight of it. 

Perception is the fusion of simple sensory impressions. In the 
case of the rattle, the baby has first of all sensations of vision, 
touch and sound. The sensations from the same sense-organ 
fuse into perceptions of the sight, feeling, and sound of the rattle, 
respectively. A higher-order fusion follows in which all three 
are fused into a general perception of the rattle. Here again 
there seems to be good physiological justification for these steps 
in developing a perception. For certain areas of the cortex of 
the brain may be destroyed and the perception be destroyed, 
and we can still see, feel, or hear in the sense of getting sensa- 
tions, but we cannot put them together so that they mean an 
object. Every object that we perceive has consequently been 
built up through combining sensations. Every object that we 
know has been learned — is a fusion of many experiences. 

Images are comparable to remembered perceptions. Thus, I 
perceive the watch before me, but I have an image (mental 
picture) of the clock downstairs. Some individuals have very 
clear images, others have very poor images, or possibly none. 
There is variation in type of imagery also. Some individuals 
can mentally see the orchestra of last night but not hear it; 
others can hear, but not see it. Few individuals have clear 
images of what has been previously tasted or smelt. Possibly 
the best time to call up images is just before going to sleep. At 
that time the writer can frequently obtain visual images which 
are as vivid as the original object and sometimes as brightly 
colored, whereas in the daytime he is aware of very few images. 

Causes of Some Faulty Reactions 

1. Man reacts to the situations confronting him in terms of his 
situation-bond-response combinations. Consequently detailed 
situations appear as known objects — unknown objects can be 
reacted to only in terms of their known parts. Consider the case 
of a little girl who knows her letters but cannot read. She sees 
the black marks on the page and recognizes letters. We on the 



45 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 137 

other hand scarcely see the letters, we see words and phrases, as 
units, and react to them. In both cases there is a reaction to 
known objects. In the illustration where the little girl called 
a pigeon feather "Goose's dress," she reacted to the situation in 
terms of her experience, which apparently was limited to ''goose," 
meaning all birds, and ''dress," meaning all clothing. 

This law that "we react to known objects" is so universally 
true that when a seeming exception does arise, we notice it and 
remember the occasion for a long time. While the writer was 
tramping through the Sierras one afternoon, an animal noise- 
lessly slunk across the trail. His reactions were: "It's a fox;" 
"it's a coyote;" "it's a rabbit;" "it's a beaver;" etc. Later it 
was identified as in all probability a mink. The reactions even 
here were reactions to the situation as though it were (1) a fox, 
(2) a coyote, (3) a rabbit, (4) a beaver, etc. This succession of 
reactions followed a corresponding series in which different 
details in the situation were reacted to more prominently than 
others: "smallness," "slinking gait," "redness," led to fox; 
"absence of bushy tail" led to coyote, etc. Only after the 
series of reactions have been made does one put the whole series 
together and say, "I don't know, it can't be this or that," etc. 
Such examples are relatively rare in real, everyday life. They 
are, on the other hand, common in school for there the teacher 
forces the child through direct questioning to notice a new detail 
and demands a specific reaction. The question, "what shape are 
the stamens?" compels the child to notice the stimulus. In 
' everyday life, not having any reaction to the unknown stimulus, 
we do not make it and henCe are oblivious to it. Think of 
what a geologist sees on a tramp, as distinguished from a botanist, 
or a zoologist, or a painter, or a day-laborer. An engineer sees 
in a bridge "compression" and "tension" members. A shoe- 
dealer always sees your shoes, a milliner your hat, a dentist your 
teeth, a doctor symptoms of this or that disease. We see what 
we have learned to see. The same details in the situation are 
fused into different higher units according to our past training. 

In an experiment 137 women were given a copy of Everybody's 
Magazine and required to read an article in it on "Habit." 
Each had the magazine in her possession one week and then 
returned it. Then they were tested as to the advertisements 
they had noticed in the magazine. The upper half of one page 



138 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

was given over to an advertisement of the Corrugated Bar 
Company, illustrating material for factory construction; the 
lower half of the page was occupied with two quarter-page 
advertisements — the advertisement on the outside of the page 
was of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and the advertisement 
on the inside of the page was of Mennen's Talcum Powder. 
0.0% of the women remembered the Corrugated Bar Company's 
advertisement, or the Harley-Davidson advertisement, but 
7.3% remembered the Mennen's advertisement. Not knowing 
anything about factory construction or motorcycles they did not 
react to them and consequently did not see them at all. But 
they did know about talcum powder and babies and reacted to 
them, i. e., noticed them. If one shows a group of advertise- 
ments to one's friends and then later tests them as to what they 
have noticed, one will find that they noticed only those adver- 
tisements or parts of advertisements that they are interested 
in. To suppose that they would notice unfamiliar things is to 
postulate that we can make new reactions spontaneously — a view 
diametrically opposite to all that we know of human behavior. 
The details of any situation are perceived and reacted to in 
terms of learned fusions. 

The second experiment in Lesson 44 has illustrated this. The 
surveyor thinks of ''feet" as 12 inches, or as J^g of a chain; the 
English teacher, as feet in a line of poetry; the average person, 
as feet to walk with, or shoes, etc. There is no conscious deter- 
mination to think this way. That particular reaction follows 
which has most frequently, or in some cases most recently, 
occurred with that situation. 

One of the complaints of business men is that graduates of 
schools and colleges cannot observe. And they constantly ask 
that students be taught to observe. The principle discussed here 
makes it clear that no one can be taught to observe in general. 
He can only be taught to react to specific situations. Keen 
observers in one line do not see what experts in other lines view 
as the simplest and most commonplace details. (Students can 
be taught as a general principle that when confronted by a new 
situation they must break it up into its parts. But how they 
will do this will depend upon their acquaintance with the parts.) 

2. A correct perception is dependent upon an adequate num- 
ber of details being presented. Riding swiftly along a country 



46 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 139 

road in an automobile one may mistake a stranger for a friend, 
or may call a mule a horse. In these cases there is not sufficient 
exposure-time for all of the details in the situation to bring about 
a reaction; some details are not seen at all. The reaction is, 
then, faulty because of an insufficiency of the details of the 
situation. Serious mistakes are not often made because of 
insufficiency of details, for one nearly always has a feeling of 
uncertainty, So one is likely to say, ''Wasn't that so-and-so?" or 
if questioned about the mule, say, ''Maybe not, but I thought 
it was." 

3. Exceptional situations are frequently reacted to in the 
manner in which we are accustomed to respond to the more usual 
situations. For example, if one will cross his first two fingers 
and then place a pencil between them, it will appear as though 
there are two pencils touching him instead of one. Ordinarily 
when the two fingers are touched in these places two objects 
must be present, consequently now two objects are thought of. 
(This is called Aristotle's illusion.) After a period of riding in a 
train, if now one's train is standing still in a station and another 
train slowly pulls out in the opposite direction it seems as though 
one's own train is moving ahead. For some time "things flitting 
by" have meant that one was moving. Now again "things are 
flitting by" (they really are) and again the same reaction is made 
to the situation — one declares one is moving. An automobile's 
speed is generally underestimated as compared with a railway 
train's. The subway appears to go faster than the elevated in 
New York City. These estimates are made in terms of the 
amount of noise; the more noise the greater the speed. But in 
these particular cases our accustomed habits fail us. 

4. Perceptions are frequently made in terms of what has just 
been experienced. Children are quite likely to multiply instead 
of add if they are given the problem "4 + 4" after they have been 
given a number of multiplication problems. Students generally 
do poorly with a question to which they know the answer, when 
it is given to them in an unfamiliar setting. The mind is "set" 
in a certain way, due to the reactions just made, and new situa- 
tions are reacted to in the same way. 

5. Perceptions are frequently made in terms of what is ex- 
pected. Every year men are shot in Maine by hunters who 
mistake them for deer. Here the mind is so strongly set for deer 



140 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

that the least indication of a deer results in the prepared response 
being made. In the same way a person who is fearful will mis- 
take rocks and trees for highwaymen as he walks along the road 
in the dusk. In both these cases the person ^'sees" what he is 
looking for. James tells us of the time he mistook ''North 
Avenue" for his ''Mount Auburn" car. He was looking for the 
latter and the former looked enough like it to pass for it. A 
family will be eating breakfast. A late arrival will taste the 
milk and pronounce it "sour." Immediately the whole family 
will agree and refuse to finish their breakfast food. The milk 
was not sour until they looked to see if it was. The mother may 
hurry into the kitchen and come back a moment later declaring, 
"It is not sour, it's right from the cow this morning." Whereon 
all will proceed with their breakfasts. "It can't be sour, there- 
fore it isn't." 

These cases of faulty perceptions, or illusions as they are called, 
all demonstrate the fact that our perceptions are learned and 
that we react as we are accustomed to react through habits, 
or as we are expecting to react, or have recently reacted, 

6. There are still more abnormal types of behavior where the 
reaction that is made is even more incorrect. In the case of hallu- 
cinations the individual reacts as though a certain situation 
were present when it is not present at all. Delirium tremens 
patients hear all sorts of noises — the roaring of beasts, ringing 
of bells, firing of cannons, crying of distressed children. "They 
are taunted by passing crowds, threatened with death, are cursed, 
called traitors, thieves, murderers. Paraesthesias of the skin 
lead to the idea that ants are crawling over them, that bullets 
have entered the body, and even the absence of wounds does not 
deter them from exposing their limbs which have been shot full 
of missiles. Hot irons are being applied to their backs, and dust 
is thrown in their faces. They can detect the odor of gas, 
sulphur fumes are being forced through the keyhole." "The 
content of the hallucinations is not always of a terrifying nature. 
Sometimes angels are seen; beautiful music is heard. God 
appears to them, announcing that they are Christs, and empow- ) 
ering them to cast out devils; they are commanded to go to 
confession and to proclaim the gospel message." In some 
cases such hallucinations have been traced to internal distur- i 
bances, such as a tumor pressing upon a nerve. | 



45 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 141 

There is an intermediate step between illusions and hallucina- 
tions called pseudo-hallucinations. In this case there is really 
some external object to which the individual reacts, but the 
reaction is not typical of normal behavior. For example, the 
wearer of a tight collar, while dozing, may get the idea that he is 
being choked by some definite person. Again, the noise of insects 
on a hot summer night may suggest a word or sentence. The 
sentence may stand out so clearly in consciousness that the 
individual is certain that some one has spoken it. Goethe was 
able to produce such pseudo-hallucinations at will, although in 
his case he was conscious of the fact that they were imaginary. 
For example, he could see one flower coming out of another in an 
endless string. He says, ''It is impossible to fix the creation, 
but it lasts as long as I desire without increasing or decreasing." 

Another type of abnormal reaction to external situations is 
known as alexia. Due to injury of the occipital lobe or of the 
adjacent part of the parietal lobe a person who previously could 
read can no longer do so. ''In such cases the printed characters 
are seen clearly enough, but have lost their significance. In 
'pure' cases, the individual can understand what is spoken, and 
may even be able to write, though unable to read what he has 
just written."^ 

Bagley2 quotes the following: "A merchant lost the ability 
to put meaning into printed or written words and sentences — 
the ability to read. At the same time, however, he found no 
difficulty in recognizing letters that he used arbitrarily as price- 
marks on his goods. That is, the very same sense contents — 
letters — were full of meaning to him in one phase of his life 
(selling goods), but utterly devoid of meaning in another phase 
(reading). Put in a more general way, this means that the same 
complex of sensations means different things to the same individ- 
ual at different times." 

These examples of extreme abnormal behavior emphasize the 
fact that integrations are due to the interaction of groups of nerve 
cells and that in extreme cases the original situation which gave 
rise to the fusions may be entirely lacking and that these nerve 
cells may be aroused in other ways. In such cases the individual 
reacts as though the original situation were present. He believes 

^ Ladd and Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, p. 252. 
2 W. C. Bagley, The Educative Process, 1908, pp. 87-88. 



142 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

it is present. And, in the case of alexia we have ample evidence 
that one may react after a brain injury to a situation as one did 
very early in life, but not as one did just prior to the injury. 
The injury has destroyed the nerve-cells which were concerned 
in the elaborate fusions, i. e., in the interpretation of black marks 
on a page into ideas. These nerve-cells being destroyed, the 
fusions consequently are lost and the individual reacts to the 
material as he did before he learned to read, i. e., before the read- 
ing fusions were developed. 

In What Sequence Should Material be Presented? 

A complete answer to this question is, of course, impossible in 
an introductory course in psychology. But certain principles 
can be enunciated as growing out of what has been already 
considered here. 

1. Know the Aim of the Curriculum or Course of Study ; also 
the aim or objective of each lesson. What the aim should be is 
a problem in the philosophy of education. Most instructors 
have no conscious aim in mind other than the mastery of so 
much material in a text-book or syllabus. Clearly the aim must 
be expressed not in subject-matter but in the development of 
boys and girls. 

2. Start with the Wants of the Students. — Preceding lessons 
have amply demonstrated that without a want or desire little 
will be learned. As the work proceeds there should be added new 
wants through suggestion and motivation with the ultimate aim 
of developing very complex sentiments, such as the self-regarding 
sentiment. Or, in other words, the student should be led, step 
by step, to work in terms of more and more remote satisfactions 
instead of immediate ones. 

3. Start with the Knowledge and Skill of the Students. — New 
habits can only be developed out of instincts and already acquired 
habits. Unless each lesson builds on what has already been 
acquired the student will not be able to follow. Advance from 
the known to the unknown is axiomatic. There is no other way of j 
securing attention, of obtaining the desired response. The two 
Congoleum advertisements in Plate X illustrate this point. In 
an experiment on 137 women 0.0% noticed the first of these two 
advertisements. But on the average 5.2% noticed six neighbor- 



46 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 143 

ing advertisements displaying a fountain pen, a bed, a dessert, 
ready-built houses, a piano, and a hot-water heater. The writer 
has been told that this advertisement was a flat failure as far as 
getting business was concerned. The second advertisement is 
typical of those run for many years. Evidently it is a success. 
The writer has no experimental data to furnish here concerning 
the second advertisement, but by all known principles the first 
advertisement should have been a failure and the second a success. 
The former advances from what was unknown in those days 
(Congoleum) to the known (rugs, etc.) The latter advances 
from the known (a hallway scene) to the unknown (Congoleum). 
The word Congoleum being unknown could not be reacted to 
for there was no bond connecting it with any response. Experi- 
ment and .experience attest to the fact that it was not reacted to. 
The second advertisement, on the other hand, can be and is 
reacted to because a hallway is a situation to which there are 
hundreds of bonds. Individuals about to build, or those who 
are making alterations, or who are interested in anything new 
which will make their homes more attractive, will stop on noticing 
the cut and see what the proposition is. But they will not stop 
at the unknown word '' Congoleum." From known to unknown 
is, then, the only way to proceed. 

4. Present Situations which the Student will meet in Life and 
Develop Responses to these Situations. — This point has been 
discussed at some length in Lesson 17, on how to remember. 
The two advertisements just referred to furnish us with another 
good illustration of this point. The primary association which 
the first advertisement attempts to form is 

Congoleum — Substitute for Rugs. 

In the case of the second advertisement it is 

Substitute for rugs — Congoleum. 

The first functions as a sort of definition. If we did pay 
attention to the advertisement, as we don't, we would learn to 
know what the commodity is, and when a friend mentioned it, 
we would say *'0h, yes, I know what that is." But there is no 
guarantee that we would ever think '' Congoleum" when we 
were considering the advisability of buying a new rug. In the 
second case the association is formed between the actual situation 



144 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

of considering a substitute for rugs and the trade -name "Congo- 
leum." Hence when we are later contemplating buying a new 
rug, "Congoleum" comes to mind, because a bond has actually 
been formed (through reading the advertisement) between (a) 
the actual situation in life which will arise and must needs precede 
the buying of a rug, and (b) the trade-name. 

5. Build up Complex Integrations. — The student who gets an 
''education" by taking a great variety of short courses develops 
many habits, but they are nearly all lower-order habits. On 
the other hand the student who continues a subject for years 
must build up habits of higher and higher order. In this way 
he obtains broad, general conceptions of the subject that the 
mere dabbler in that field can never reach. One ideal in educa- 
tion should be to develop such general conceptions, fox then the 
student is equipped to react in terms of a vast number of experi- 
ences and so is much more likely, to make truly appropriate 
adjustments to his environment. 

Though the development of such general conceptions or prin- 
ciples is most desirable, it must be borne in mind that men differ 
greatly in general intelligence. This means that the less their 
intelligence the more difficult it is for them to build up higher- 
order habits. Too many advocates of culture as the aim of 
education overlook this fact. They fail to realize that not every- 
body can learn as they have. Experts in vocational education, 
on the other hand, have learned this fact from experience and 
have introduced many short courses and have employed the 
project-method quite extensively, because these methods are 
better adapted to training men for a job than the usual methods 
employed in high-schools and colleges. But in some cases 
vocational training has been organized on too simple a basis so 
that there has been little opportunity for the development of any 
higher-order habits. One business executive summed up the 
whole problem very well when he said that his foremen were 
concrete-minded and that all training for foremen as foremen 
must be specific training whereby they would be taught just 
what to do when confronted by any situation on their job. But 
he went on to add that training of his foremen for higher 
positions must be in terms of more general principles, else they 
would not qualify for promotion. Apparently the ideal instruc- 
tion would be concrete, with opportunity for those who could to 



I 



45 SEQUENCE IN PRESENTING MATERIAL 145 

organize the concrete elements into more and more general 
principles. Applied to public-school procedure this means that 
dull children must be taught as many responses to the situations 
that they will meet as possible, while bright children will be 
taught all of these and very much more, with a great deal of 
emphasis upon general principles. Today bright children are 
not given enough to do, nor is the work difficult enough to 
challenge their powers, and dull children are given too much to 
do and much of it is too abstract for them ever to grasp it — and 
if they could, they would practically never use it. 



I 



10 



LESSON 46 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL 

WORK? 

Is drill work necessary? Must we go over our lessons again 
and again? Does practice make perfect? Should drill be the 
basis of all learning? If so, how should it be conducted? If 
not, are some things to be learned through drill and others to be 
learned in another way? How shall we distinguish between the 
two types? These and many other questions confront the educa- 
tor of today. Let us consider some of these problems. 

Introduction 

All learning is the formation of new bonds or the reorganization 
of old ones. In Lesson 11 ''rote memory" was distinguished 
from ''associative thinking." If we learned that "hund" 
meant "dog" through sheer repetition we assigned the case to the 
former type of learning; if we learned that "hund" meant "dog" 
through the intermediary step of "hound," we assigned it to the 
latter type. Practically there are few examples of learning that 
can be considered really typical of the one type and not of the 
other. Most cases of learning partake of both — we form new 
bonds and we reorganize old bonds. For convenience, however, 
we can assign some tasks to the first group, such as learning the 
addition or multiplication combinations, learning many words 
in a vocabulary, many chemical formulae, many dates in history, 
etc. And to the second group can be assigned such tasks as 
learning through performing the experiments in this lesson, study- 
ing the next lesson, learning how a building is constructed through 
watching its construction, etc. As already stated, however, most 
cases involve both types. In fact it is very doubtful whether the 
average person employs only rote memory even in learning the 
multiplication tables, and again whether he can get along with- 
out any rote memory at all in studying the next lesson. 

A few years ago the emphasis was upon memorization, and 
even now in some schools students are taught no other way to 
study then to commit the text to memory. But in many educa- 
tional institutions today the pendulum has swung over to the 

146 



46 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 147 

other extreme and all the emphasis is upon reasoning or associa- 
tive thinking and none upon rote memory. It is certain that 
emphasis upon associative thinking rather than rote memory is 
to be preferred; but to ignore the latter completely is not wise. 
A teacher holding a responsible position in a large city school 
system said the other day, ^^It would be as much as my position 
is worth to have the superintendent discover me drilling my 
children!" Such a condition of affairs is all wrong. It implies 
a very inadequate notion of the psychology of learning. The 
only effectual way to learn some things is to sit down and go 
over the material again and again until it is mastered. 

The Experiments for Today 

Three short experiments will be performed today. Do them 
in the order indicated and finish all three before referring to the 
questions that follow. A knowledge of the questions only 
upsets you so that you do not do the work in your natural 
manner, and as we want to discover the facts of learning we must 
needs guard against abnormal interfering factors. 

Problem. — What are some of the essentials of good drill work? 

Apparatus. — Watch with second hand. 

Procedure : Par^ 1. — Imagine yourself back in the fourth 
grade in a class in handwriting. Copy fifteen times the line 
' 'Learning is the development of new habits." 

Both partners should do this part. 

Part 2.— Have S call out 15 times, ''Start" and then ''Stop" 
with an interval of what he judges to be 15 seconds in between. 
S should not practice this at all, not even once, before starting. 
E is to record the actual number of seconds that elapsed each 
time between S's two signals, but must not indicate by word of 
mouth or by facial expression any comment on S's performance. 

Now repeat the performance, but this time E will report to S 
each time what the actual length of time was which he judged 
to be 15 seconds. Record his estimates as before. 

Part 3. — One partner will now commit to memory the multi- 
plication table for 17 according to Scheme A, and the table for 
19 according to Scheme B. The other partners will commit to 
memory the multiplication table for 17 according to Scheme B 
and the table for 19 according to Scheme A. 

Scheme A. — Recite the table over and over as given below 



148 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



until you can shut your eyes and recite it correctly. Do not 
practice any more than is just necessary to give you the ability 
to recite the table correctly. Record your learning time. 



17 

34 

51 

68 

85 

102 

119 

136 

153 

10 X 17 170 

11 X 17 187 

12 X 17 204 



1 X 17. 

2 X 17. 

3 X17. 

4 X 17. 

5 X 17. 

6 X 17. 

7 X 17. 

8 X 17. 

9 X 17, 



1 X 19. 

2 X 19. 

3 X 19. 

4 X 19. 

5 X 19. 



19 

38 

57 

76 

95 

6 X 19 ' 114 

7 X 19 133 

8 X 19 152 

9 X 19 171 

10 X 19 190 

11 X 19 209 

12 X 19 228 



Scheme B. — Recite over and over in rotation the first three of 
the four different arrangements of the 17 or 19 table, as the case 
may be, until you can cover up the answer column and answer 
the combinations correctly. Record your learning time. (But 
do not practise the fourth arrangement at all.) 



7 X 17. 

4 X 17. 
11 X 17. 

8 X 17. 

5 X 17. 

2 X 17. 

9 X 17. 

6 X 17. 

3 X 17. 



.. 119 

.. 68 

.. 187 

. . 136 

.. 85 

.. 34 

.. 153 

.. 102 

.. 51 

10 X 17 170 

12 X 17 204 

1 X 17 17 

7 X 19 133 

4X19 76 

11 X 19 209 

8 X 19 152 

5X19 95 

2X19 38 

9 X 19 171 

.. 114 

.. 57 

.. 190 

.. 228 

.. 19 



6 X 19. 

3 X19. 
10 X 19. 
12 X 19. 

1 X19. 



4 X 17. 

7 X 17. 
12 X 17. 

9 X 17. 

10 X 17. 

2 X 17. 

1 X 17. 

8 X 17. 

3 X 17. 

6 X 17. 

5 X 17. 

11 X 17. 

4 X 19. 

7 X 19. 

12 X 19. 

9 X 19. 

10 X 19. 

2 X 19. 
1 X 19. 

8 X 19. 

3 X 19. 

6 X 19. 

5 X 19. 

11 X 19. 



68 9 

119 6 

204 4 

153 12 

170 8 



34 
17 



136 11 



51 
102 



85 10 

187 2 



76 
133 

228 



171 12 
190 8 



38 
19 



152 11 

57 7 

114 5 

95 10 

209 2 



X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17, 
X 17, 

X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 



153 12 
102 2 



68 

204 

136 

17 

51 



187 10 

119 8 

85 11 

170 4 
34 7 

171 12 
114 2 



76 

228 

152 

19 

57 



209 10 

133 8 

95 11 



190 
38 



X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 
X 17. 

X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 
X 19. 



204 

34 

102 

153 

17 

85 

51 

170 

136 

187 

68 

119 

228 

38 

114 

171 

19 

95 

57 

190 

152 

209 

76 

133 



46 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 149 

When both partners are through let each test the other as to 
his abihty to read down the fourth of the four arrangements of 
the 17 and 19 tables as given under Scheme B above. S should 
cover up the answer column and not refer to the answers until 
entirely through both tables. E should record the time 
consumed by S in giving the answers to each table and any 
mistakes. 

Results. Part 1. — Incorporate the 15 copies of your hand- 
writing in your write-up. Record estimates 'by yourself and 
partner as to how much better or poorer the last three copies are 
than the first copy. 

Part 2. — Plot two curves showing the data obtained from S in 
the two practices. 

Part 3. — If S made any mistakes in reciting to E the multipli- 
cation combinations at the end of the experiment, add }/'i of the 
total time to his time record for each such error. Record in a 
table the time consumed by each partner in learning according 
to Scheme A and Scheme B. Also record their average time. 
(If these records do not look right to you, obtain the records of 
other pairs of partners and give a final average in this way for 
four, six, or eight individuals.) 

Conclusions. — (1) Evaluate the two maxims, ''Practice makes 
perfect" and "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again." 

2. In Lesson 11 mention was made of the fact that in learning 
one is very likely to associate items in a list with their position 
in the list. Is this an advantage or disadvantage? Explain. 

3. What other conclusions can you deduce from these 
experiments as related to drill work? Explain. 

Applications. — (Write up your report and hand it in at the 
next class hour.) 



LESSON 47 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL 

WORK? (continued) 

Drill work presupposes, of course, learning through repetition. 
What else is involved? Consider this illustration.- Suppose 
the person who can count but does not know the multiplication 
tables, is frequently called upon to get the total of six items 
taken seven times. The steps in learning that six sevens are 
forty-two would be: (1) Six marks or matches or fingers would 
be counted seven times. To be sure of the answer the counting 
would have to be done at least twice. After a number of experi- 
ences the next step would be attempted, i. e., (2) counting by 
groups, i. e., by sixes, (the marks or matches being used now only 
mentally). Still later, (3) the number forty-two would occur 
before the counting was finished. Usually the counting would 
be gone through with just the same because of lack of confidence 
in this premonition. (4) The number forty-two would some- 
times pop up before the counting started. (5) The number 
forty-two would occur every time as soon as the situation was 
encountered. (6) The time interval between comprehending the 
situation and the occurrence of the response of forty-two would 
become less and less. 

Here we have many repetitions. The process, however, of 
getting the answer has steadily changed — it has been short- 
circuited into fewer and fewer steps until only one step remains. 
Which part of the whole process of learning is drill? In one sense 
the whole process has been drill; but the term is more commonly 
restricted to step (6) where the essential change is no longer in 
procedure but only in reaction time. All educators would 
insist on teaching a subject until the answer can be given without 
resort to obviously round-about methods, but many today refuse 
to go further and cut down the time of the performance, on the 
ground that this would be mere memorization, which to their 

151 



152 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

thinking has no place in school work. A group of college pro- 
fessors recently agreed that there was nothing in their courses 
to be memorized; reasoning alone was appealed to! 

Obviously, it depends upon circumstances whether a student 
should be permitted to stop at step (1) or go through to step (5), 
or to submit to days of drill in step (6). What performances 
should be drilled? 

What Performances Should be Developed through Drill? 

At least four general answers can be given to this question. 
They overlap, however, more or less. 

1. All Habits Which Function Frequently in Daily Life as 
"Tools" Should be Drilled Upon. — Arithmetical combinations up 
to 10 X 10 are regarded as combinations which are met so fre- 
quently in life that they need to be learned in order that daily 
complex situations may be reacted to promptly and correctly. 
These combinations must be learned in one specific manner, 
because that way is the shortest and most efficient. 

It is a mistake to allow children to learn their arithmetical 
combinations by so-called short-cuts, as, for example, ^\^hen 
confronted with ^'9 + 7" to think '^10 + 7 is 17; 17 - 1 is 
16." It is true they can often reach the answer more quickly 
than do children who learn ^'16" outright as the answer to 
**9 + 7," but throughout life they will in all probability require 
about twice as much time to get the answer as the second group 
will. 

The same is true, to a great extent, of spelling; only through 
repetition can the correct spelling of many English words be 
learned. An intermediate step (phonics) can be used to advan- 
tage for a time. Through this drill the child comes to learn new 
words through the reorganization of old bonds instead of slowly 
forming entirely new bonds for each new word through repetition. 

Through the use of the moving-picture machine followed by a 
careful study of the pictures, it has been discovered that all 
persons, even experts, make many inefficient movements while 
performing their work, whether this be typewriting, tending a 
machine, or laying brick. In many places employees have been 
trained to perform their task in the one best way. This has in 
many cases increased the production very greatly and with 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 153 

proper safeguards has not increased fatigue — in some cases it has 
actually decreased fatigue. At one conference of men interested 
in industrial education considerable attention was given to this 
phase of learning as it applies to draughting and the handling of 
tools. The point was made that the first step in scientific 
teaching is to determine, for example, just how to use a draught- 
ing pen, and the second step is to drill the student in that perform- 
ance until he can do it accurately and rapidly. Observation of 
professional draughtsmen had revealed many different ways of 
using the pen; some of them were efficient and some quite 
inefficient. Such men learned the process by themselves, picking 
up a good deal of their knowledge and skill from observing 
others. Psychologically stated, they learned very largely 
through utilizing already formed bonds. The ideal upheld at 
the conference was to force the beginner to use his tools correctly 
and to drill him at doing so until he used them easily and 
efficiently. 

Not only must these habits which act as tools be learned 
through drill but they must he drilled and drilled upon until they 
act automatically, i. e., act like reflexes. The writer's estimate 
as to why children fail in arithmetic above the third grade is 
that it is due approximately one-third to inability to do auto- 
matically the simple fundamental processes already supposed to 
be learned, and one-third to inability to understand the English 
of the problems. We are concerned here only with the first 
factor. Take the sample, ^'Fred buys 6 apples at 3 cents each 
and gives the groceryman a quarter. How much change should 
he get back?" Here the child must (1) multiply 6X3, and (2) 
subtract 18 from 25. But all the time he must keep the problem 
in mind. If the two arithmetical processes can be performed 
automatically as soon as it is appreciated that they must be 
performed, then the child can keep the problem before him and 
so perform each step properly and in its right sequence. But if 
he must devote all his energies to finding what is 6 X 3 then 
the problem will slip out of his mind and the chances are that he 
will either have to reread the problem or will get a wrong answer. 
To know that 6X3 equals 18 is not enough. It must be so 
known that the answer will come immediately even with the 
mind almost entirely occupied with grasping the meaning of 
the problem. 



154 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

In a final examination in Freshman mathematics the first 
hundred papers read all contained solutions to the problem: 

(sin 2280°) (tan -1845°) 



Find value of 



(csc-30°)(cos-300°) 



As all of the hundred students chose to answer this problem 
(having an option of several) it is evident that they viewed it as 
one of the easiest in the examination. Yet 50% of them failed 
to solve it. An analysis of their work shows that 41% had 
everything right except one step and that 49% of all mistakes 
were made in this one step. The one step was substituting the 
values of cos 30°, tan 45°, etc. If they did not know these 
substitutions they could have looked them up in their tables 
which they had with them in the examination room. They 
thought they knew them (and they should have), but didn't. 
Their instructors pride themselves that no memory work is 
required! Clearly the students should be taught always to 
look up such values (comparable to looking up 6 X 7 in arith- 
metic), or else to drill themselves until they really know 
them. 

''Tool" habits must not be viewed as very simple habits. 
They may be very complex. The proper organization of material 
in writing up a laboratory notebook, or using statistics, or taking 
notes according to an outline, or organizing material properly, 
are good examples of complex "tools." Because they are useful 
in making one think clearly, they need to be drilled upon until 
the mechanics of such thinking are no longer troublesome to the 
student and practically all of his energies can be devoted to 
solving the problem with the use of the tools. It is pathetic to 
see so many college Freshmen today who cannot outline at all, 
or can do so only with such great difficulty that it is not worth 
while. 

Habits, then, which function frequently in life as ' 'tools " 
need to be learned through drill work and to be reduced to an 
automatic basis. 

2. Skill Can be Obtained Only through Drill. — In the preced- 
ing section habits were to be drilled upon because they served as 
"tools" in the reacting to thousands of different situations met 
in life. In this section habits are to be drilled because they 
must be used for their own sake very largely. Examples are 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 155 

high jumping, swimming, typewriting, playing a violin, sewing, 
and the like. Facility in such performances is spoken of as 
skill. Skillful manipulation of a violin means that many finger- 
movements have been developed through trial-and-error and 
have been practiced thousands of times until the learner has 
approximately reached his physiological limit in producing them. 

Judd^ gives two instances of how skill is dependent upon the 
mastery of certain processes through trial and error. In learning 
to write with the pen, ''we are guided," he says, ''in the form- 
ation of letters in large measure by the sensations of pressure 
which come to us through the fingers which hold the pen. Espe- 
cially is this true with regard to the height of letters. Let 
anyone try to make his letters twice as high as usual and he will 
at once become aware of the fact that the relations of pencil and 
paper are such that the pencil at the top of the letter tends to 
leave the paper. The old-fashioned shading of letters showed 
the same fact in another way. No heavy shading was made by 
upward strokes. The downward strokes were the heavy strokes, 
because here the pen came with increasing pressure into contact 
with the paper. The changes in pressure which control the 
height of our letters are not ordinarily recognized by the writer. 
Little children are more dependent than are adults on intense 
experiences of pressure. They break the points of pen and 
pencil because they press too hard in trying to secure intense 
sensations. The pressure sensations (kinaesthetic sensations) 
help them and help the adult in guiding movements. We speak 
of these sensations, therefore, as controls of writing, because as 
soon as the pressure at the top of a letter gets light the skilful 
writer is controlled in his movement and turns back. In like 
manner he is controlled at the bottom of his letter by the 
increasing pressure. 

"Every habitual act is governed by certain sensory controls. 
Each tool in the manual-training shop has its particular system 
of controls. Take, for example, the saw. When one drives 
the saw forward, it should engage the wood vigorously, just as 
the pen makes naturally a heavy do^wnward stroke. When the 
saw is drawn back it should pass lightly over the wood. The 
skilful sawyer makes his movements without stopping to analyze 

1 C. H. Judd, Psychology of High School Subjects, 1915, pp. 254-255, 
261-262. 



156 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

the experience. The learner, on the other hand, has to pay- 
close attention in order to acquire the proper adjustment of 
movements and sensations. Furthermore, the expert sawyer 
is instantly responsive to the sensations which come from his 
saw if the line which he is following is not perfectly straight. Let 
the saw swerve ever so little and the skilful workman makes the 
necessary turn of his hand. He knows, further, how to adjust 
his stroke to different kinds of material; and he knows also that 
when the board is just about divided he must make a skilful 
stroke in completing the cut which the novice does not know how 
to accomplish." 

Our present educational system aims to develop skill in but 
a very few cases. Shorthand and typewriting are drilled upon 
in some schools to such an extent that one may fairly speak of 
the student's accompHshment as skilful. In the ordinary course 
in manual training or domestic science, the boy makes a table but 
once and goes on to another assignment, and the girl makes a 
salad once and takes up another recipe the next day. All that is 
aimed at here is general knowledge together with the develop- 
ment of skill in handling a few instruments, such as the hammer 
and saw, the egg-beater and rolHng pin. If the student ever does 
acquire real facility in cabinet work or in cooking, he or she 
acquires it outside the school, not inside. For skilfulness can 
come only through repetition of the same process over and over 
again. 

The same thing applies to German and French and to most of 
our courses in school and college. Practically no one can speak or 
read or write German with any real degree of fluency as a conse- 
quence of school training. The case is no better for Latin, 
which is generally studied for a longer period of time, if studied 
at all. Probably only in the two subjects of English and mathe- 
matics do we find students approximating a real stage of skilful 
performance. Mathematics lends itself particularly to drill 
work, and yet many a college student cannot add a column of 15 
figures with any degree of facility. And any one familiar with 
the papers handed in by college students, particularly in non- 
English courses, would hesitate to say that eight years of English 
in grammar school, four in High School, and two in college insure 
skilful use of the English language. 

The American people have not yet determined just what they 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 157 

want the public school to accomplish. Until they do, the psy- 
chologist cannot lay down a program as to how to teach the differ- 
ent subjects. Apparently the acquisition of skill in anything but 
English and simple arithmetic is not really desired or there would 
be a more earnest attempt on the part of educators to secure it. 
It should be born in mind, in this connection, moreover, that if 
skilfulness is to be desired, it can be obtained only as the result 
of long training during which both pupil and instructor will need 
to exercise the highest qualities in their character to keep them 
at the task. The expert never reaches his goal by 'Splaying at" 
his task. 

3. Certain Performances Prized for Their Aesthetic (Pleasure- 
giving) Qualities Can be Mastered Only through Drill. — The 
memorization of the Twenty-third Psalm will illustrate this type. 
Through careful reading the thought of the psalm may be gained 
first. This leads to the organization of much of the material in 
terms of old habits of thought. But after all that can be accom- 
plished in this way has been done, the learner must settle down 
and get the rest through repetition. For the enjoyment of 
reciting the psalm just as it is written is desired. Here drill work 
is necessary. Memorizing poems, jokes, selections on the piano, 
sleight-of-hand tricks, Indian-club exercises, etc., can be thought 
of as belonging in this group, although psychologically these per- 
formances could be included under the other two headings. 

4. Clean-cut Accurate Thinking is Dependent in Some Cases 
upon Drill. — Physics, for example, is a subject which develops 
step by step through the precise use of what has gone before. 
Every term has a definite meaning. Students who learn to 
employ these terms in their exact scientific meaning are saved 
many an error that other students fall into. Today efficiency 
is lowered far more than we realize because students are encour- 
aged always to think everything out instead of utilizing at least 
some of the knowledge of experts. This is not a plea for memori- 
zation without understanding — the failure of much teaching in the 
past; but a plea for memorization of definitions, principles, and 
laws after complete mastery of their meaning. 

So much for the question as to what performances need be 
learned through drill work. Let us now turn our attention to 
the question as to what should be the guiding principles underly- 
ing drill work. 



158 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 
What Guiding Pkinciples Should Underlie Drill? 



1. "Put Together What Should Go Together and Keep Apart 
What Should Not Go Together."^ — We have seen in Lesson 11 
that if 

Si >Ri and 

occur together several times, bonds may be formed between Si 
and R2 and between S2 and Ri. If this fact is kept in mind this 
rule becomes a very vital one in teaching. If we are endeavoring 
to develop Si-^Ri and S2-^R2 and not the bonds Si— >R2 and 
S2— »Ri then the two (Si-^Ri) and (S2— >R2) must not be repeated 
together, but must be kept separate. 

In teaching the spelling of new words, this means that the 
correct combination of letters should be presented, and never the 
wrong combination. In teaching reading, it means that the 
names of the letters should not be given but only the sounds of 
the letters. To teach ''b" as ''bee" instead of ''bu" is only to 
confuse the beginner when he attempts to pronounce *'bug." 
In handling children at home, this principle means that we must 
never frighten children with the bogy man or about the dark. 
We want a child to grow up with no thought of the dark as a 
terrifying thing. . Hence, keep all such notions away from him. 

2. Have a Definite Standard before the Student as to What is 
the Goal. — In the second experiment in Lesson 46 the necessity 
of this principle was most strikingly demonstrated. In the first 
part of that experiment S had no standard to check himself by. 
In the second part of the experiment he had one, and as a result 
could and did make great progress. The first experiment also 
illustrates this same fact. The copying tended to get worse 
rather than better, because there was no object stated for the 
writing nor any model present to be imitated. Herein lies one 
of the chief merits of educational norms. 

3. "Reward Desirable Connections and Make Undesirable 
Connections Produce Discomfort.** — If E had frequently praised 
or condemned the work in either of the experiments just men- 
tioned, better work would have resulted. The maxim ''Practice 
makes perfect" is true, provided the learner keeps continually 
checking up his production by a standard, or is praised for good 

1 E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. II, p. 20. 



1 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 159 

work and condemned for poor work. But practice with neither 
of these elements present is as Kkely to lead to poorer work as to 
better work. Many a woman brings up her fifth child just as 
badly as she did her first; many a teacher teaches no better at 
fifty than at twenty-five. (Review here what is presented in 
Lesson 15 on the Law of Effect as it relates to the strengthening 
of a bond; also the effect of approval and disapproval in Lesson 
34.) 

4. Drill in Such a Way That the Learner Will Make the Proper 
Response to Situations Which He Will Actually Meet in Life. — 
This principle has already been discussed in Lessons 17 and 45. 
Three further illustrations add to the subject, however. Chil- 
dren need to know arithmetical combinations. There is no 
reason why the answers should not be taught as direct responses 

4 
to simple combinations, e. g., situation, 3; response, 7; and not as 

^ 4 
taught in so many schools, e. g., situation 3; response, 4 and 3 

are 7. 

If the purpose in high school physics is to teach boys and girls 
to be able to repair electrical apparatus about the home, then 
situations similar to those met in the home must be presented in 
addition to mere problems from the book. (See discussion in 
Lesson 17.) Again, if the purpose of teaching geometry is to 
train students to think, as is so often claimed, then methods must 
be changed. For example, the method of arguing by "reductio 
ad ahsurdum^' is nowadays developed in geometry. The situa- 
tions to which it is tied are all geometrical problems or theorems. 
When these are presented the method may appear. When the 
term itself is presented students can discuss its meaning, use, 
and value. But students scarcely ever use it anywhere else in 
their work in school or in life. Recently the writer asked a 
class of 17 advanced students how many understood the term. 
All did. '' How many have ever used that method of argument?" 
Only one, and he stated that his father used it frequently and 
that he had learned it from him, not from his geometry. Of 
what use is their knowledge of this method, if it is never 
employed? Practically none. What is needed is to present a 
large variety of situations from real life and connect them up 
with the reactions of using the method. 



160 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(Some readers may protest at this, and may maintain that the 
business of the geometry teacher is to teach geometry, and that 
the place to learn to use the "reductio ad ahsurdum'^ method of 
argument is a class in argumentation. Consider such a point of 
view in the light of what a prominent mathematics professor has 
said, namely, that all the mathematics in the High School course 
in geometry could be easily taught in one month; the remainder 
of the material in the course is supposed to be there for the pur- 
pose of training students to reason. All that is accomplished 
along this latter line in most geometry courses is to ''reason" 
out geometry problems. But what is needed in this subject, 
as in all school subjects, is not the teaching of the subject-matter 
but the development of boys and girls. The content can be 
taught, but it is a means to an end, not an end in itself.) 

5. Guard against Interference Effects as Much as Possible. — 
In Lesson 15 we saw that one repetition of ''D 84" resulted in 4% 
of the S's recalling 84 when D was again encountered. But when 
R was shown with 18 and again with 42 and later R was presented 
alone, neither 18 nor 42 could be recalled. We said that R-18 
interfered with R-42 and vice versa, so that recall was impossible. 
This matter of interference should constantly be considered in all 
drill work. Pupils should be so handled that they will make a 
minimum of mistakes. An unintentionally mispelled word on 
the board may necessitate three or four times as much drill upon 
that word as would be necessary if the pupils had not seen it 
written out incorrectly. 

In teaching short division, it was formerly customary to have 
the process written out as follows: 

9 )5076 
564 

Then when long division was taken up the process was changed 
to this: 

94)5076(54 

470 

376 
376 



But setting down the answer on the right instead of underneath 
caused endless confusion (interference). Today it is recognized 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK . 161 

that the best scheme is to arrange long-division problems in the 
same way as short, i. e., 

564 54 

9)5076 and 94)5076 
470 

376 

376 



No one has ever experimentally determined whether it is better 
to teach addition and multiplication combinations at the same 
time or one after the other, whether to commence German and 
French at the same time or one after the other. There are some 
theoretical advantages to be urged for both plans. We need 
expert advice here. But in all probability it will be found that 
better results can be obtained by reducing the addition combina- 
tions to something like an automatic basis before introducing 
the interfering multiplication combinations, for the two situations 

that look alike ^ lead to two different responses, i. e., ''10" 

and ''24." Drill on the addition and multiplication combina- 
tions separately eliminates interference to a large extent. Then 
later they may be presented at the same time to develop a 
realization that there is another element in the situation besides 

just the 4, i. e., the idea of "addition" or "multiplication." 

6. Do Not Permit Drill Work to Become Monotonous. — It is 
in the child that the ill effects of monotony are to be 
guarded against rather than in the teacher. Of course, if the 
teacher is bored he will not do so well as when interested; but a 
good teacher can make himself interested if he sees progress 
resulting from his efforts. The distinction between monotony to 
the child and to the teacher is drawn here because many a 
time the child enjoys what is boring to the adult. Small children 
enjoy repetition for its own sake — their games are largely com- 
posed of repetition of simple processes continued almost without 
end. Three girls, aged seven to nine, spent a good share of one 
summer bouncing a golf ball and counting in unison up to three 
hundred, the limit of their game. 

But there are limits to the interestingness of repetition with 

children. And when these limits are approached the teacher 
11 



162 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

should drop the procedure immediately and start another. So 
in a lesson in which the distinctions between ''noun" and ''verb" 
are being established, examples can be given and then called for 
after the preliminary presentation of the subject. Then sen- 
tences can be asked for made up of given nouns, of given verbs, 
and of given nouns and verbs. Drill on the characteristics of 
each may follow and then the need for the distinctions may follow, 
etc.; the greater the variety of activities the more interesting to 
all. But throughout the whole lesson the one idea should run 
clearly and emphatically — "nouns vs. verbs." In this text the 
conceptions of "situation-bond-response" and "characteristics 
of learning curves" have been drilled, for example, very much 
more than is customary. But the aim has been to present them 
in a great variety of ways so as to secure interest because of 
novelty and to avoid the feeling of monotony. 

Which Should be Emphasized in Drill Work — Speed or 

Accuracy? 

In the mirror-drawing experiment (Lesson 7) it was quite clear 
that if S had in mind "speed" his time curve would drop rapidly 
and his accuracy curve would drop more slowly, or might not drop 
at all; and if S had in mind "accuracy" the reverse would be the 
case. Apparently, the answer to our question as shown by this 
experiment is that both must be emphasized. If either alone is 
emphasized, the other fails of development. A study of hundreds 
of learning curves in this and other experiments, however, leads 
the writer to the conclusion that emphasis upon speed seldom 
results in neglecting accuracy entirely, whereas emphasis upon 
accuracy may often result in ignoring speed. If an instructor 
should talk speed all the time he would also secure considerable 
improvement in accuracy, but emphasis upon accuracy may bring 
little or no improvement in speed. 

Thorndike^ reports the following table on the relation of speed 
and accuracy. Six hundred and seventy-one college students 
were divided into eight groups on the basis of the rate at which 
they could do simple addition. The second column gives the 
number of additions made in 100 seconds, and the third column 
the number of mistakes. After practice the rate was increased 

^ E. L. Thorndike, On the Relation between Speed and Accuracy in Addi- 
tion. Jour, oj Educ. Psychol., Nov., 1914. 



47 



ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 



163 



and errors reduced, as shown in the fourth and fifth columns 
respectively. Basing our results on group averages, as in the 
table, it is clear that the more rapid the workers are the more 
accurate they are. If the individual records were examined 
individual exceptions would be found. But they are far fewer in 
number and importance than the records of those who conform to 
the rule. At the close of practice the fastest workers did 162 
problems in 100 seconds as against 46 problems for the slowest 
workers, and the fast ones made but 3.8 mistakes in 1000 as 
against 14.4 mistakes in 1000 by the slowest workers.^ 



No. of indi- 
viduals in 
the group 



Before practice 



After practice 



No. of prob. 

done in 100 

seconds 



No. of errors 
per 1000 



No. of prob. 

done in 100 

seconds 



No. of errors 
per 1000 



65 


150 


7.0 


162 


3.8 


108 


108 


9.1 


120 


6.5 


86 


88 


10.3 


99 


6.7 


115 


75 


12.0 


87 


8.3 


109 


64 


12.7 


75 


9.0 


103 


55 


12.6 


66 


9.3 


65 


46 


14.4 


58 


10.5 


20 


37 


17.5 


46 


14.4 



In 1912 R. S. Selvidge tried this experiment in teaching 
draughting. In the first section he handled the students as is 
customary, emphasizing both accuracy and speed. (The truth 
of the matter is, however, that accuracy is actually uppermost 
in the minds of students in such a course.) In the second 
section, they were trained in planning out just what they were 
to do before picking up their ruling-pens or triangles. They 
were called upon to submit a plan with the details numbered in 
the order in which they were to be executed. When this plan 
was approved, they were allowed to proceed. They were timed 
with a stop-watch while actually working, and the time was 
recorded on the drawing. At the end of the fourth week the 
second section had done more work than the first section but of 
not quite so good quality. At the end of the sixth week the 

1 Striking results from drill in silent reading are reported by J. Q. O'Brien, 
Silent Reading, 1921. 



164 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

execution was equal in both sections, while the second section 
had finished several more drawings. At the end of the semester, 
the second section had done twice as much work and the 
execution was better. 

In such work as draughting accuracy is emphasized by the 
very nature of the task. A drawing must look neat and must 
come out correctly, else both student and instructor are dis- 
pleased with it. In Selvidge's first section, then, speed was only 
mildly emphasized as contrasted with accuracy. In the second 
section the two factors were probably equally important in the 
minds of the students, or (if anything) speed was the more 
prominent. The result was that all of the unimportant move- 
ments, such as reaching for a ruler, pen, or triangle, or filling the 
pen with ink, etc., were made quickly, whereas in the first 
section much time was lost through dilatory movements. More- 
over, even the important movements in drawing lines were made 
more quickly in the second section. 

To do an act slowly is a different psychological process from 
doing it quickly. Try combing your hair or tying your necktie 
in half the time, or in twice the time, and notice how changing 
the rate upsets the whole process. It is a false notion that we 
can learn to do a thing slowly and afterwards readily increase 
the rate of doing it. The easiest way is to learn right from the 
start to execute the act as rapidly as we can. In a short time 
we shall reach for our pen, shave, put on our clothes, or run a 
machine, at top speed instead of slowly. And within very wide 
limits fatigue will result no more rapidly from the rapid work than 
from the slower. 

Out in life the world expects to have the job done correctly 
and within a certain time. It is as much a failure to be slow as 
to do the work poorly. The present extreme emphasis in our 
educational world upon accuracy is not preparing our boys and 
girls to cope with business conditions. To allow students to 
turn in their themes a week or a month late is to encourage 
habits which are inimical to their best interests. 

There is still another angle to this question of speed vs. accu- 
racy. College mathematicians and English teachers are not free 
from simple errors in adding or spelling. But they know their 
limitations and are constantly checking their work or using a 
dictionary, as the case may be. The goal in teaching such 



47 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD DRILL WORK 165 

subjects should be as great speed as is consistent with perfect, 
or nearly perfect, accuracy. And this accuracy is to be based 
on habits of checking which through drill have been made 
practically automatic. 

Proper Conception of Drill and Memorization 

In Lesson 41 reference was made to the old controversy between 
Interest and Discipline. Drill and memorization have on the 
whole come to be considered essential elements of the latter 
doctrine. This is not strictly fair. Properly conducted drill 
need not be unpleasant, especially with young children. But 
whether pleasant or not, it should be insisted upon in certain 
cases, just because certain bonds must be developed to a high' 
state of efficiency. It is a matter of necessary thoroughness. 

Such instruction is different from that given for the sake of 
discipline, which is instruction given just because it is hard and 
uninteresting. With the theory behind this — that only by 
overcoming difficulties and doing what one does not want to do 
can one develop a well rounded character — we are at present not 
much concerned. The inclusion of Latin and mathematics in 
the curriculum has often been defended on just this basis. If it 
is essential that one do what one does not want to do then the 
difficulties intrinsic to the subject matter of such studies may be 
properly insisted upon. If, on the other hand, the overcoming 
of obstacles is sufficient discipline then it would seem that the 
student may develop even through work which he likes. 

In the development of a hierarchy of habits the learner very 
often reaches certain levels where no noticeable improvement 
occurs, sometimes remaining on the plateau for long periods of 
time. Investigators of this subject affirm that rise from a 
plateau occurs only when the learner is doing his best — when he 
feels like doing the work and exerts himself. Very often the rise 
does not occur until some accident happens. For example, a 
telegrapher is given an opportunity to obtain a better position, 
if he can increase his sending and receiving rate. And in a few 
days he does increase them beyond what he has ever done 
before. Every man has resources which he never draws upon 
because he does not sufficiently desire to do so. It would seem 
that pressure must be put upon most persons before they can 
reach levels of proficiency which, when once reached, they easily 



166 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

maintain. Not only do they maintain such increased profi- 
ciency, but they also seem to enjoy their work in direct ratio to 
their proficiency. 

Proper drill and memorization are essential for good reasoning 
and the development of initiative. This point has already been 
made in Lesson 39. Reasoning is a trial-and-error manipulation 
of previous experiences. If one has few experiences, or if they 
are vague or poorly analyzed, one's reasoning must be sadly 
limited. If, on the other hand, one's experiences are extensive, 
clean-cut, and well analyzed into details, then one's reasoning 
may be efficient. Memorizing of facts and making fine dis- 
tinctions between facts are ways of supplying the mind with 
material to work on in solving difficulties. 

The most . formidable attack upon memorization has been 
provoked because too many teachers have demanded slavish 
reproduction of the text and nothing more. Three graduates of 
a two-year normal school requiring High School graduation 
testified that the only method they had ever used in studying 
was to read each sentence through three times as they went 
through their lessons! In such cases there is no question as to 
the superiority of reorganization of lesson material over mere 
memorization. What is needed is that students shall think 
through a text-book assignment, not memorize it. This may 
involve their underlining essential points, or outlining the 
lesson, or asking themselves what its points are, why they are 
presented, etc. The student who merely memorizes the material 
can answer only such questions as are intimately related to it — 
can give back only what is memorized. The student who has 
reorganized the text can utilize portions of it, disregarding 
other portions, and can utilize these portions in thinking out the 
answers to problems quite remote from the original connection. 
Then, to master the contents of a lesson, only one step more 
is needed: the memorization of the main elements, or of any 
important laws, definitions or specific facts, so that these can be 
fluently presented. Seldom does one hear a well-rounded 
recitation today. All that is heard is piecemeal presentation of 
the subject in response to many questions. Just a few minutes 
more of study spent in memorizing the outline would supply 
the deficiency. But it will not be given by students until it is 
required by instructors. 



LESSON 48 

TO WHAT EXTENT CAN TRAINING GAINED IN ONE 
SITUATION IN LIFE BE UTILIZED IN ANOTHER? 

If I train myself to cross out 4's on a sheet of paper containing 
a large number of digits, will that help me to cross out 6's or 7's? 
If I am drilled on noticing flowers until I come to know most of 
the flowers about my home, will that aid me in noticing birds, 
or different kinds of soils, or detecting differences in the weave of 
cloth? If not, why not? If so, to what extent and how? 

The specific problem is to determine (1) whether practice in 
canceling 4 and 7 aids in canceling 6, or combinations containing 
2 and 3, where the same kind of blank is employed, or canceling 
O's where another blank is used; and (2) whether practice in 
canceling 4 aids in canceling 7. 

Apparatus. — One Woodworth and Wells Number-Checking 
Blank, ten Woodworth and Wells Number-Group Blanks,^ 
Stop-watch. 

Procedure. — ^Let that one of the two partners who has the 
better eyesight act as S. 

All blanks are cut in two so that each half of the Number- 
Group Blank has seven columns of 12 groups of figures each. 
Arrange them so that S will mark alternately a top and then a 
bottom section throughout the experiment. 

Read over the instructions for each part and then do that part 
before reading the instructions for the next part. This procedure 
will save you time in this particular experiment. 

Provide for a rest-period of about 30 seconds after each blank 
so as to lessen eye-strain as much as possible. Most of the 
blanks will require from 40 to 100 seconds each, thus requiring 
in all from 20 to 45 minutes. 

1. E gives S half a Woodworth and Wells Number-Checking 

^ See R. S, Woodworth & F. L. Wells, Association Tests, Psychol. Monog. 
No. 57, 1911. 

167 



m 



168 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Blank, face down. S provides himself with a medium-soft lead 
pencil. At the signals ''Ready," ''Go," S is to turn the blank 
over and beginning at the top of the blank check off all the O's. 
He is to pass from left to right as in reading, is to make no errors, 
is to continue without pause until the blank is completed, and is 
to finish the test as quickly as he can. Record in fifth-seconds 
(if possible) the time taken. S should be informed that there 
are five O's in each row. 

2. Repeat the above. 

3. In the same manner S must check off all the combinations 
which contain the number 6 in half a Number-Group Blank. 
Here also S is to pass from left to right as in reading, to continue 
without pause until the blank is completed, and to finish the 
task as quickly as possible. 

4. S now goes through half a blank checking off all those 
combinations which contain both the digits 2 and 3. 

5-12. S now goes through eight half-blanks one after the 
other, checking off all those combinations which contain the 
figure 4. Be sure to record the time required to do each of the 
eight half -blanks. 

13. Mark one half blank for the figure 6, i. e., repeat (3). 

14-21. Now mark eight half -blanks for the figure 7. Be sure 
and record the time for each half -blank as in (5)-(12). 

22. Mark one half blank for the figure 4. 

23. Mark one half blank for the figure 6, i. e., repeat (3). 

24. Mark one half blank for all those combinations containing 
both the figures 8 and 9 in the same group. 

25. Mark the first half of a Woodworth and Wells Number- 
Checking Blank for the figure 0. Remember here again that 
there are five O's in each row. 

26. Repeat procedure in (25). 

Results. — Record opposite each trial (a) the time taken, (b) 
the number of omissions or incorrect cancellations, (c) the com- 
puted time (including time and errors), (d) any introspective 
observations, (e) any interesting observations by E as to S's 
methods of work, general attitude, etc. 

(Each half of the blank contains 56 groups containing any 
special digit, and 35 groups containing any specified two digits. 
2 % of the total time for any blank should be added to the total 
time for each omission or wrong cancellation when one numeral is 



48 TRAINING GAINED IN ONE SITUATION IN LIFE 169 

being checked. When two numerals are being checked add 3% 
for each error) . 

(Cancehng 4 and 7 are on the whole equally difficult, as is 
also canceling the pairs (2 and 3) and (8 and 9.) 

Plot the results, indicating along the horizontal axis the suc- 
cessive trials from (1) to (26) and along the vertical axis the com- 
puted time for each trial (i. e., actual time plus additional time 
for each error). 

Make the following comparisons: 

(a) The time for marking O in the four cross-section tests. 
Compare the four records with those obtained from fifteen 
persons who canceled only the four half -blanks and did not obtain 
any practice effect from canceling other blanks. Such persons 
are referred to as the control group. Their data are: 64.4", 
58.1", 55.0", 54.8", respectively. The necessity of comparing 
the data in the experiment with ^'control data" is, of course, due 
to the fact that there will always be considerable improvement 
in each process due to practice effect. A second blank will natur- 
ally be done more quickly because proficiency will have been 
gained through doing the first blank. This gain due to practice 
must first of all be calculated and subtracted from the total 
gain, before we can consider any transfer effect. This is done 
by subtracting the improvement shown by a control group from 
the trained group. 

(b) The time for marking 6 in the three tests. (Data from 
Control Group are 80.8", 72.6", and 67.9".) 

(c) The time for marking 2 and 3 and also 8 and 9. (Data 
from Control Group are 90.6" and 91.1". Cancehng 8 and 9 is 
probably slightly harder to do than canceling 2 and 3.) 

(d) The time for marking 4 at the end of its practice series 
and after practicing 7 eight times. (Data from Control Group 
are 51.7" and 50.5".) 

(e) The rate of improvement in the two practice series, i. e., 
canceling 4 and 7 eight times each. (Data from the two Control 
Groups are, for 4's: 64.4", 61.4", 58.8", 58.1", 57.0", 54.4", 
54.2", 51.7"; and for 7's: 62.6", 57.8", 56.8", 56.9", 56.8", 
53.8", 52.9", and 52.4".) 

Questions. — (1) Does training in marking 4 and 7 aid in the 

marking of 0, or 6, or (2 and 3), or any other figures? Why? 

2. Two methods of testing transfer have been used. In the 



170 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

"cross-section" method one function is tested before and after 
the training of another function. In the ''successive practice 
curve" method, two performances of equal difficulty are trained 
one after the other, to see whether the second improves more 
rapidly than the first. Both methods are incorporated here into 
the experimental procedure; which is better for solving the prob- 
lem of transfer? 

3. Does training one function improve another function? 

4. What is transferred in these experiments? Explain 
carefully. 



LESSON 49 
TRANSFER OF TRAINING 

The problem before us in this lesson is one of the most funda- 
mental in all education. Upon its solution depends very much 
of educational policy. At the present time there are practically 
three solutions. 

The first one, known as the doctrine oi formal discipline, comes 
down to us from ancient times. Possibly it is as well expressed by 
Hugh^ as any one. He says: '^ Intellectual training stands on 
very much the same basis as physical training. A man's 
physical nature can be trained by doing useful work or the exer- 
cises of the gymnasium, which have no value whatever except 
their effect upon the physical system of the performer. So one's 
brain system can be trained in studies that have a knowledge 
value for the individual, but also in those that have none. In 
both cases, of course, it is best that the gymnastic should be 
secured in the performance of useful work, as in this case two 
ends are gained at the same time; but as, perhaps, all kinds of 
work only partially develop one's physical powers, so that it is 
necessary to have recourse to gymnastics to complete the physical 
training, in the same way it may be necessary to have special 
exercises to develop particular brain functions, though such exer- 
cises have no knowledge value in themselves." Thorndike^ 
has stated the belief of the adherents of this view as follows: 
"It is clear that the common view is that the words accu- 
racy, quickness, discrimination, memory, observation, attention, 
concentration, judgment, reasoning, etc., stand for some real 
and elemental abilities which are the same no matter what mate- 
rial they work upon; that these elemental abilities are altered by 
special disciplines to a large extent; that they retain those altera- 
tions when turned to other fields; that thus in a more or less mys- 
terious way learning to do one thing well will make one do better 

1 D. D. Hugh, Formal Education from the Standpoint of Physiological 
Psychology, Ped. Sem., April, 1898, p. 604. 

2 E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, 1913, Vol. II, p. 363. 

171 



172 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

things that in concrete appearance have absolutely no com- 
munity with it." 

This ''formal discipline" point of view is not supported today 
by the great majority of psychologists or by many educators. 
On the other hand certain other educators uphold it, and it rep- 
resents the point of view of the populace, including numerous 
school teachers. 

The second solution is a very narrow interpretation of the theory 
of ^^ identical elements^^ which developed from the early experi- 
ments of Woodworth and Thorndike. According to this view 
there can be no transfer from one experience in life to another 
unless there is an identical situation-bond-response combination 
common to both. Various ardent supporters of the first theory 
have written and talked as though this narrow interpretation were 
the one upheld by modern psychology. 

The third solution is a broad interpretation of the theory of 
^'identical elements,'^ possibly best presented by Ruger^ or Heck.^ 
Here it is emphasized that transfer may take place in terms of 
identical elements in the actual tasks, and also in terms of identical 
elements involved in the method of going at the tasks or in the 
attitude of the individual toward his work. 

The first point of view practically means that any course of 
study that requires effort will help the student to do any task he 
encounters in life. The second would insist that only as the 
course of study has actual elements in it that are common to 
the task in later life can the former be of assistance in the latter. 
The third would include the second but would also go beyond it, 
in asserting that school training in methods of going at a task 
or in developing proper attitudes toward work is of help in later 
life. For example, if a student learned in arithmetic to conquer 
a self-conscious attitude and to substitute for it a problem atti- 
tude towards his work, this would be of value to him throughout 
life because the common element — problem attitude — would be, 
or might be, present in all activities. 

With this general statement before us let us note the results 
from two experiments and then return and take up these various 
solutions and consider them in detail. After that we shall be 
ready to consider their applications to education. 

^ H. A. Ruger, The Psychology of Efficiency, 1910. 

2 W. H. Heck, Mental Discipline and Educational Values, 1912. 



49 



TRANSFER OF TRAINING 
Experimental Results 



173 



Results From the Experiment in Lesson 48. — Data from 37 
students are given below regarding transfer effect upon canceling 0; 
also regarding transfer effect from canceling 4 upon canceling 7. 

Canceling 









Transfer group 


Gain 




Control 


Group 




probably 


No. of blank 


record, 


gain, 






due to 




seconds 


seconds 


Record, 


Gain, 


transfer 








seconds 


seconds 


seconds 


No. 1 


64.4 




63.6 






No. 2 


58.1 


6.3 


59.8 


3.8 










22 intermediate 










trials 




No. 25 


55.0 


3.1 


52.5 


7.3 


(4.2) 


No. 26 


54.8 


0.2 


49.7 


2.8 








Total gain 




9.6 





13.9 


4.3 < 







Canceling 4 and Canceling 7 Compared 




No. of blank 


4's, 
seconds 


7's, 
seconds 


Difference, 
seconds . 


No. 5 and No. 14 

No. 6 and No. 15.. -. 

No. 7 and No. 16 

No. 8 and No. 17 


62.6 
57.8 
56.8 
56.9 
56.8 
53.8 
52.9 
52.4 


56.5 
52.6 
52.8 
53.1 
51.6 
50.6 
51.9 
52.0 


6.1 
5.2 
4.0 
3.8 


No. 9 and No. 18 


5.2 


No. 10 and No. 19 


3.2 


No. 11 and No. 20 


1.0 


No. 12 and No. 21 


0.4 






Total gain 


10.2 


4.5 









The gain probably due to transfer has been calculated as the 
difference in total improvement between the trained group and 
the control group. In this way specific fluctuations in the learn- 
ing curves are largely eliminated from consideration. From the 



174 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

results it would appear that the training due to canceling twenty 
two other blanks has aided in canceling on another form of blank 
to the extent of 4.3 seconds. This approximately represents the 
gain in doing the second blank over the first blank when no prac- 
tice intervenes. 

Besides such results obtained by the ''cross-section" method, 
we have the data obtained by the ''successive practice curve" 
method in canceling 4 and 7. The gain from canceling 8 blanks 
of 4 has resulted in the first blank of 7 being done in 6.1 seconds 
less time than the first blank of 4. But this gain is slowly lost as 
successive blanks in the two series are compared until in the case 
of the 8th blank there is only a difference of 0.4 seconds between 
canceling 4 and 7. Apparently we may gain something from cancel- 
ing 4 that will help us at the start in canceling 7 but this transfer 
effect does not help us particularly in later trials. After cancel- 
ing 8 blanks a person may expect to do as well in canceling 7 who 
has had no experience in canceling 8 blanks of 4 as one who has 
had that experience. 

Interpretation of the Results. — The writer holds to Thorndike's 
doctrine of "identical elements" but these elements must be 
construed in a broad sense. It is not enough to consider that 
the "identical elements" in canceling 4 and 7 are only situation- 
bond-response combinations involved in the actual process of 
seeing a 4 and canceling it or seeing a 7 and canceling it. Other 
combinations of various sorts are involved in such a process. The 
method of holding the pencil, the method of making the check 
mark, the method of holding the paper with the left hand, all 
these and many other details, enter into the total processes of 
marking 4 or 7. And in addition there are other groups of habits, 
such as, willingness to cooperate in a seemingly senseless perfor- 
mance, determination to do one's best, etc., that play a very great 
part in executing any task. 

We maintain that there can be no transfer from training in one 
function to that of another unless there are identical elements 
common to both processes. This point will be discussed more 
fully after the experimental data have been considered. The 
data in this experiment support this point of view. The transfer 
in the case of canceling 0, or 6, or 2 and 3, or 8 and 9 is very small 
although 18 to 22 intermediate blanks have been canceled. It 
probably does not exceed what would be obtained through cancel- 



49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 175 

ing three or four more blanks of the test material itself. And 
in the case of the last table it is clear that the transfer gain does 
not vitally affect canceling 7 after the first few trials have been 
completed. What has been transferred here is not ability in 
''seeing a 7 and canceling it" because of training in ''seeing a 4 
and canceling it" (these not being identical situation-bond- 
response combinations), but rather the methods of holding the 
pencil or paper, of making the cancelation mark, or in general 
adaptation to the whole performance — an improvement in 
functions common to both processes. 

The Experiment of Poffenberger^ 

"The general plan of the experiment was as follows: Eight 
subjects, and in some of the tests eleven, repeated each of a 
series of seven tests, five times. Four of these subjects were then 
selected as a training group while the others became the control 
group. The training group was practiced in each of another 
set of four tests for 100 times. This training continued for a 
period of nine days with approximately eleven tests each day. 
On the tenth day, the combined group of trained and control 
subjects was again tested in the seven tests used at the beginning 
of the experiment. Five trials were given as at the start. 
Hence, we may compare the performance of a group who had 
nine days of special training with a group which had no special 
training during this interval." 

Poffenberger secured subjects "who were familiar with psycho- 
logical tests and who in most cases had had experience with the 
very tests used." "The first two trials in the first and last test 
series in the case of both the trained and the control groups were 
considered as preliminary and not to be calculated in the results." 
In these and other ways he eliminated the general factors which 
made up the bulk of the transferred improvement, such as 
"adaptation to the conditions of the experiment, acquaintance 
with the material, distribution of attention, etc." 

The results may be grouped in three parts: First, cases in 
which there were no identical elements common to the test 
material and the training material; second, cases in which there 

1 A. T. Poffenberger, Jr., " The Influence of Improvement in One Simple 
Mental Process upon Other Related Processes," Jour, of Educational 
Psychology, Oct., 1915. 



176 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



were identical elements common to both; and third, cases in 
which there were identical elements in both situations but the 
expected responses were different, thus constituting cases of 
interference. 

First. — ''Where there were no identical bonds between stimulus 
and response in the two processes, the influence of one test 
upon another will be neither positive nor negative, i. e., there 
will be neither transfer nor interference." In the first experi- 
ment, the test consisted of calling out as rapidly as possible 
the names of forms printed on a sheet of paper, i. e., seeing a D 
and saying ''square," seeing a Q ^^d saying " circle." The inter- 
mediate training consisted of seeing squares of various colors 
and calling out the names of the colors, — i. e., seeing the color 
red and saying "red," seeing the color blue and saying "blue." 
In the second experiment, the test consisted in canceling groups 
containing both 4 and 7 on a Number-Group Blank. The inter- 
mediate training consisted of canceling 3 and 5 alternately 
fifty times each on a Number-Checking Blank. In the third 
experiment, the test consisted in subtracting 17 from fifty 
numbers. The intermediate training consisted in adding 17 to 
fifty other numbers for one hundred times. The fourth experi- 
ment consisted in dividing twenty-five numbers by 7, while the 
intermediate training consisted in adding 7 to fifty numbers for 
one hundred times. The table gives the amount of improvement 
for the Control and Trained Groups. 



Transfer Effect When 


No Identical Elements are Present 




Intermediate training 


Improvement 


Tests employed 


Control 


Trained 






group, 


group, 






seconds 


seconds 


1. Naming forms. 


Naming colors. 


15.9 


15.0 


2. Canceling groups contain- 


Canceling 3 alternately 


15.1 


8.8 


ing both 4 and 7. 


with 5. 






3. Subtracting 17 from fifty 


Adding 17 to fifty num- 


19.5 


21.3 


numbers. 


bers. 






4 . Dividing twenty-five num- 


Adding 7 to fifty num- 


6.0 


-2.2 


bers by 7. 


bers. 








14.1 


10.7 



49 



TRANSFER OF .TRAINING 



177 



Second. — ''Where there are identical elements in the two 
situations or where a given process involves one or more bonds 
previously formed, there will be a positive or transfer effect." 
In the one experiment, included here, the test consisted in 
canceling groups containing both 3 and 5 on a number-group 
checking blank. The intermediate training consisted in cancel- 
ing 3 and 5 alternately fifty times each on a number-checking 
blank. In the training, consequently, the individual developed 
the habit of seeing 3 and canceling it, and of seeing 5 and cancel- 
ing it. These habits formed part of the process of looking for 
groups containing both 3 and 5 and therefore transferred to the 
test performances. The table gives the amount of improvement 
for the Control and the Trained Group. 



Transfer Effect When Identical Elements are Present 



Test employed 


Intermediate training 


Impro-^ 

Control 
group, 
seconds 


/■ement 

Trained 

group, 

seconds 


1. Canceling groups contain- 
ing both 3 and 5. 


Canceling 3 alternately 
with 5. 


11.5 


23.7 



Third. — '^ Where one test necessitates the breaking of previously 
formed bonds and the formation of new ones, there will be a 
negative effect or an interference." In the first experiment 
under this heading, the test consisted in responding to each of a 
list of adjectives by naming a noun that could go with it appro- 
priately, as ugly — dog, lazy — tramp. The intermediate training 
consisted in respondifig to the same Kst of adjectives by naming 
their opposites, as, ugly — beautiful, lazy — industrious. In the 
second experiment, the test consisted in multiplying various 
numbers by 7, whereas the intermediate training consisted in 
adding 17 to the same numbers. In both these experiments, the 
situation was identical in the test and the training series, but the 
responses were different. ' Interference is consequently to be 
expected. 



12 



178 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 
Transfer Effect When Interference Effects are Present 



Tests employed 


Intermediate training 


Improvement 

Control Trained 

group, group, 

seconds seconds 


1. Responding to adjectives 

by naming nouns that 
could go with them. 

2. Multiplying fifty numbers 

numbers by 7. 


Responding to the same 
adjectives by giving 
opposites. 

Adding 17 to the same 
numbers. 


15.6 
29.7 


-2.0 
11.4 




22.7 


4.7 



Summing up Poffenberger's experiments we see that (1) 
when there were no identical elements in the two processes there 
was no transfer; (2) when there were identical elements in the 
two processes there was transfer; and (3) when there were 
identical situations but diverse responses there was interference. 

Discussion of Experimental Results 

For the sake of clearness the points already established will 
be repeated again. First, without identical elements in the two 
'performances there can he no transfer; with identical elements in 
the two performances there may he transfer (we shall consider later 
why there is not always transfer under such conditions) ; and with 
identical situations present to he associated with different responses 
there will he interference. 

' Second, these identical elements are to he thought of as hahits, 
i. e., as situation-hond-response comhinations. 

Third, an identical element may he an integral part of the func- 
tions themselves, or a part of the process hy which the learner devel- 
oped facility in performing the functions. For convenience we 
may speak of identical elements of content (where it is an integral 
part of the processes themselves), or of method, or of attitude. 
The last two refer to elements entering into the process of 
developing the new habit under consideration. To illustrate 
these distinctions, consider the case of a child learning long 
division. Identical elements of content would be all the specific 
habits of addition, subtraction, multiplication and short division 



49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 179 

already known; also the simple habits of writing digits, of drawing 
lines, of comprehending the value of unit's place, ten's place, etc. 
Identical elements of method are also habits, but habits of a 
broader sort. They could be illustrated here, e. g., by a habit of 
jugghng with figures until you get the right answer, by a habit 
of juggling with figures until you get an answer without any 
remainder (a bright child, when first studying long division, 
quickly sees that all answers come out even), etc. Identical 
elements of attitude would be also just as much habits as the 
others, but habits pertaining, so to speak, to the control of 
energy. One boy, for example, has done well in multiplication 
and has gained a confident attitude toward his arithmetic work; 
consequently, he expects to do well here, he tries hard, he throws 
himself into the task. Another boy has had trouble in his 
arithmetic right along; he has no confidence in himself. He con- 
sequently does not throw himself into his work. He really 
does not know how to do it. 

The first solution of the problem as ^Ho what extent one can 
utilize training gained in one situation in life in another situation" 
was not conceived at all in terms of habits. It was supposed that 
''memory" and ''discrimination" were analogous to muscles. 
If they were trained on any sort of material, they were trained, 
and so could be utilized on any other material. We realize now 
that this old "faculty-psychology " idea was wrong. " Memory " 
and "discrimination" are only generic terms referring to phases 
of habits. Seeing a 4 and canceling it is a habit, and it is a 
different one from seeing a 7 and canceling it; training the first 
does not train the second, even though both do involve 
"memory" and "discrimination." 

The second solution emphasized only habits of content, and over- 
looked habits of method or habits of attitude. The third solution, 
on the other hand, takes into account all three types of habits. 

With an adequate understanding of the third solution, one sees 
that the educators who have supported and are still supporting 
the first solution are not very wrong from their point of view; 
but their psychology of the processes involved is false, and so 
they put the emphasis in the wrong place. For them the big 
thing in education is the development of what we should call 
habits of method and habits of attitude. And we heartily agree 
with them here. They have seen these habits developed in 



180 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

themselves or in their pupils through study of the classics or 
mathematics, and naturally give the credit to these courses of 
stud3^ Just here we take issue with them. It is not the course 
of study that is responsible for the development of habits of 
method or attitude, but the method of instruction. Now, the 
method of instruction depends partly on the instructor and 
partly on the student. Our educators today are superior men 
who have developed adequate methods and attitudes because 
they have had the ability to do so. Moreover, among the 
teachers whom they had in school, the most inspiring were 
usually those who taught the classics and mathematics, so that 
these men, as students gained most from those subjects. And 
they tend to believe that the benefits were derived from the 
subjects, rather than (as is more probably true) from the person- 
ality and methods of the teachers. The important thing is 
to develop proper methods and attitudes of attacking new 
situations in life. Such development can come — and ought to 
come — as well from studying one subject as from studying any 
other. (This point will be considered shortly.) 

There is one other point on which we differ with those who 
support the first solution. We would absolutely deny that the 
ideal college education is one such as President Hadley^ of Yale 
had in mind when he said, ''It may be objected that any such 
arrangement would render it difficult for a boy to study the 
particular things that he was going to use in after life. I regard 
this as its cardinal advantage. The ideal college education 
seems to me to be one where a student learns things that he is 
not going to use in after life, by methods that he is going to use. 
The former element gives the breadth, the latter gives the 
training." Youmans^ characterized thus the difference between 
this school of thought and the position maintained here : ''The 
adherents of the current theory propose to learn first the useless 
fact. A, to get the discipline necessary to acquire the useful fact 
B (later in life); while a rational system ignores useless fact A 
and attacks B at once, making it serve both for knowledge and 
discipline ... As it costs as much effort to learn a useless fact 
as a useful one, by this method half the power is wasted." 

It is just because of this point that the supporters of the third 

^ A. T. Hadley, Report of the President of Yale University, 1908-09, p. 22. 
2 E. L. Youmans, Culture Demanded by Modern Life, 1867, p. 23. 



49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 181 

solution have so fiercely attacked the classics in recent years. 
''The child is learning useless facts," they assert. ''Let him 
learn useful facts instead." Development of methods and 
attitudes can come equally well from all subjects providing they 
are well taught. At the present time most of us are living in 
glass houses, and it scarcely behooves any of us to throw stones. 
Freshman English and Elementary Psychology were the most 
barren subjects in the writer's college course, barren because 
there was practically nothing in either which touched life in any 
way. Although the author feels that a child cannot afford to 
study Latin because it uses time which might better be given to 
studying other more useful subjects, yet in many a school today 
the most useful course is the Latin course — and this is simply 
because in such cases the Latin teacher happens to be the best 
teacher in the school with respect to methods and inspiration. 
The remedy is (1) better teaching and (2) courses of study devel- 
oped out of the experiences of the child. 

In estimating the comparative value of two courses of study one 
should consider particularly the transfer that is possible from the 
two to life — not solely to the earning of a living, but in addition, 
to real enjoyment of life and to usefulness as a member of our 
social order. And this transfer must be thought of in terms of the 
content of the course, the methods developed, and the attitudes 
acquired in the course. For example, Freshman physics was a 
very worth-while course to the writer because in it he learned to 
think in terms of formulae. Possibly he should have gained that 
method of handling material from his mathematics courses, but 
he did not. And he did get it in the physics course, and he now 
uses the method frequently in his thinking. One of the most 
serviceable studies he has ever made is that of advertising — a 
course that as a student in college he could not have got credit for 
because "it might have helped in earning a living." It vitalized 
his understanding of rhetoric and the writing of English because 
in advertising one must write clearly and forcefully. It carried 
him into the realm of art because a successful advertisement must 
be artistic. His psychology became organized along new channels 
because it was necessary to present the subject in an actually 
useable way. It forced him to study some economics, to come 
into contact with business men, to understand many phases of 
business life that otherwise would have remained unexplored. 



182 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

In the same way every part of a course of study should be 
tested out. And in all but advanced courses for experts, details 
which are not useable in life should be discarded, and details which 
do pertain to life put in their place. As most details can be 
shown to have a bearing on other things this rule will operate not 
so much to determine what should go in a course and what should 
be eliminated, as to emphasize the manner of presentation. Let 
the man with a hobby retain his hobby provided he justifies its 
existence in his course by linking it with many things in life — the 
life which has to do with earning a living (for that must come 
first), plus the life of appreciation, enjoyment and service. 

How TO Teach so as to Secure Transfer 

Let us turn from a discussion of the nature of transfer in general 
to a consideration of some steps which are essential to securing 
the most widespread transfer from one performance to others. 
Consider first an experiment reported by Judd^ and then its 
bearing on this point. 

Two groups of boys were trained to hit a target under water. 
''To do this, when the target is looked at obliquely from above, is 
a task requiring some readjustment of the boy's ordinary habit of 
throwing a dart, because the light which comes from the target 
is refracted as it leaves the water and, as a result, there is an 
apparent displacement of the target. Furthermore, the amount 
of apparent displacement will differ when the depth of the water 
is changed. . . . The one group was allowed to acquire experi- 
ence without any instruction whatsoever. They were simply 
set at the task of hitting the target. The second group was given 
a preliminary explanation of what is meant by refraction and 
how the apparent displacement of the target is produced. The 
explanation thus given to the second group constituted the only 
distinguishing characteristic between the two groups. It may 
therefore be said that one group had the theory of the situation, 
while the other had no theoretical training. 

''The result showed that the two groups of boys required the 
same length of time to learn how to hit the target under water. 
This first result of the experiment shows with perfect clearness 
that one cannot substitute theory for practical experience. 
(New muscular movements or new coordinations of movements 

^ C. H. Judd, Psychology of High School Subjects, 1915, pages 269-271. 



49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 183 

must be learned through 'random movements.') One can know 
something about refraction, but if he has to deal with it he must 
learn to make his readjustments to the practical situation by 
actual readjustment of his movements, and this actual readjust- 
ment of his movements apparently will take place at a no more 
rapid rate than it does for any intelligent person who starts out 
to accomplish the practical task. In terms of our earlier discus- 
sion it may be said that the theory of refraction had to do with 
the visual part of the total experience. An analysis of the visual 
facts could not be carried over directly into hand movements 
hence the time required in making the hand adjustment was not 
produced through a preliminary analysis of the visual facts. 

''After both groups of boys had thus mastered the practical 
situation the experiment was modified by changing the depth of 
water. This change in the depth of water, followed, of course, 
by a change in the apparent displacement of the target, turned 
out to be a source of very great confusion to the boys who had had 
no theoretical training. They had learned how to deal with one 
situation in which the target was under water, and they had at the 
outset of the experiment such natural experiences as any boy 
brings to a task of this type, but the new situation produced by 
changing the depth of the water did not correspond to either of 
these sets of experiences which they had mastered. They 
consequently oscillated between the newly acquired experience 
with the first depth of water and the earlier, natural experience, 
which had nothing to do with water at all. . . 

"As contrasted with these boys who had no theoretical train- 
ing the group of boys who knew the theory of refraction presented 
an entirely different result. These boys adapted themselves 
rapidly to the new depth of water. ... In other words, after 
they had mastered one practical situation and had compre- 
hended it in the Ught of their theoretical knowledge, they were 
able to take up rapidly and with all of the advantages of earher 
experience a new problem which involved both practical adjust- 
ment and analysis." 

In terms of identical elements the untrained group of boys 
developed a specific response to a specific situation. Later when 
the situation was changed they had to go to work and develop 
another specific response to the new situation through random 
movements. This is the method by which nearly all persons 



184 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



learn to spear frogs or fish. In the case of the trained group, 
when they were confronted by the second situation they added 
to the actual situation the additio'nal element pertaining to re- 
fraction of light. Consequently after missing the first shot, they 
reacted to their training by making to themselves some such 
statement as this, — ''I missed that shot and yet fired as I ought to 
have. Evidently the object is deeper in the water than I 
thought. If so, I must make more allowance next time for 
refraction." Understanding of refraction constituted another 
element in the total situation to which the trained boys reacted. 
Judd would substitute the term ''generalization" for ''identical 
elements." As far as the writer can determine, his conclusions 
agree with these recorded here. Generalization means, appar- 
ently, understanding the details in their relationship to the whole 
process and better still in their relationship to many processes. 
By generalizing we learn to react not to the situation as a whole 
but to it in terms of its parts. For example, diagrammatically, 
a response to a whole situation like this 




s, 
s. 



A s! 



R, 
R^ 
R3 
R. 
Rs 
R 




would not aid one in responding to this 




::>, 



S. 



B s 



10/ 



R, 
R. 
R 
K 
R 
R. 




But a response to the situation in terms of its parts, like this 





49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 185 

would aid very greatly in responding to this 





D s 



In the first two cases there are no identical elements, so far as 
the individual who is reacting is concerned — there are simply 
specific responses Ha and R^ to specific situations S^ and S^. 
But in the latter two cases there are the identical elements, Si 
— Ri, S2 — R2, S3 — R3, S4 — R4, and S5 — R5. Consequently Rd 
will be made in terms of these identical elements from Re. 
How Rd will come to include a reaction to the new element Sio 
will depend upon whether Sio — Rio is known from other experi- 
ences or is a new movement which must come through trial-and- 
error learning. 

Some examples of just such propositions are these: When 
a person who is used to driving an auto first attempts to steer 
a motor-boat, although both are guided by turning a wheel and 
are guided in essentially the same manner, there are a few random 
movements that have to be made before the process becomes 
thoroughly learned. These random movements occUr because 
the two wheels are not the same size and an eighth turn on one 
does not correspond to an eighth turn on the other, etc. The 
differences in the two performances are learned only through 
random movements. The common elements in the two are 
carried over from the auto to the motor-boat. A boy who has 
ridden a velocipede will learn to ride a bicycle more quickly 
than one who has not had this experience. Why? Because 
he has learned to make his feet go while guiding with his hands, 
and again, to steer where he wishes to go by turning the handle 
bars. Both these elements are common to the two perform- 
ances. Having learned them on the velocipede is sufficient; he 
need not learn them over again. But there was practically no 
problem of balancing himself on the velocipede, whereas it is a 
very real difficulty on the bicycle. Hence, this element will have 
to be learned in progressing from the velocipede to the bicycle. 
And this element must needs be learned through random move- 



186 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

ments. And not only must this element be so learned, but the 
coordination of the new element with the old elements will 
have to be learned through random movements. Transfer can 
take place only when there are identical elements in the two processes. 

But this does not mean that there will necessarily be transfer 
in the two processes. The identical elements must exist in 
terms of habits which a person has himself acquired. In other 
words, if the habit comprises a gross reaction to a total situation, 
then there can be transfer only when a new situation is en- 
countered exactly like this former situation or containing this as 
one of its elements. But if one understands just how each part 
of the response fits into the whole, just why each part is necessary, 
etc. — in other words, reacts to details of the situation with 
specific responses, then, when any one of these parts of the 
situation is encountered again it may be reacted to immediately 
because there is already a bond between it and its appropriate 
response. 

This leads us to another way of stating the superiority of 
learning material through reorganization over learning through 
memorization. Consider the case in which one child draws up 
an outline of a chapter of geography and another memorizes 
the material in the chapter. The latter has reacted to the whole 
chapter with practically one response — memorizing it. Ques- 
tions based on the wording in the text can be fairly well answered, 
— surprisingly well if they call only for reproduction of the chap- 
ter; poorly, if the questions require comparisons of various 
sections. But such a student has not formed reactions to the 
various parts of the chapter and consequently will not utilize 
the material elsewhere in life, for there is practically no occasion 
for reproducing a chapter on the geography of Africa, as such. 
But the first child, on the other hand, in making his outline has 
been forced to react to details, to react to them in many ways. 
And he will utilize these reactions in other situations in life when 
these details are presented, e. g., questions as to the products 
of Cape Town, European colonies in East Africa, etc. He will 
utilize his geographical information because he has formed specific 
bonds between certain details and many others; and in life, these 
details appear as parts of new situations, not as total chapters. 

Judd's experiment is another illustration of this same point. 
The trained boys have one more detail in the situation associated 



49 TRANSFER OF TRAINING 187 

with a response than the untrained boys. In occasions when this 
detail is a part of the situation they can react to it and so come 
nearer to getting the required new response than can the untrained 
boys. 

Take the case of the Tri Trix puzzle, shown in Plate XII. 
What is needed to solve this puzzle is to have the puzzle in some 
way or other suggest the response of twirling it. For most people 
the puzzle as a whole — or even the parts into which it may be 
broken — never suggests twirling, and so they fail to solve it. 
But occasionally to a student there comes in response to the 
detail ''balls must go to the outside or farthest corners," the 
response ''centrifugal force." When that happens they solve 
the puzzle, solving it in terms of a transfer of that specific habit 
from previous experience to this particular puzzle. The reason 
few of us solve the puzzle is that in physics we formed the bond, 
'^ centrifugal force" — "things fly apart." If in the physics course 
we had proceeded from concrete situations to the general prin- 
ciple, we would have developed the bond "things flying apart" — 
"centrifugal force." We would then be more likely, when con- 
fronted with the puzzle, to utilize the common element "things 
flying apart." 

Summary 

Transfer is dependent upon the utilization of identical elements. 
Identical elements may be much increased by analyzing situa- 
tions into their parts and learning responses to each part. Gener- 
alization of such elements aids greatly in enabling the student to 
react to the part-situation as distinct from the whole. For 
example, it has been shown experimentally that training children 
to produce neat papers in arithmetic will not produce any "neat- 
ness" effect in language and spelling papers. But if the element 
of neatness is analyzed out of a variety of papers so that the child 
finally comes to appreciate this element as distinct from the total 
situations in which it occurs, then it may function in any other 
situation in life. The emphasis must be put upon the word 
may; there is no guarantee that it will function. Whether or 
not there will be transfer depends upon whether the situation 
encountered in life will arouse the neatness habit, whether (to use 
the example above) it will call to mind the principle of centrifugal 
force. In other words, unless generalizations, or central con- 



188 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

ceptions, are taught so that they will be brought to mind by- 
situations in every day life, they will not function. The best 
working formula to test out whether transfer will occur from a 
course of study or a daily lesson is to ask: Is this habit I am 
requiring my students to develop one that they can use elsewhere? 
If so, is it being connected up in such a way that situations met in 
life will cause it to function? 



LESSON 50 

REVIEW 

In order that certain very broad general conceptions may be 
better established, the writer purposely refrains from summariz- 
ing the preceding lessons, and asks that detailed outlines be 
prepared in which a complete answer will be given to the three 
questions : 

1. Why does one make any given response? 

2. How may one influence another to do what is desired? 

3. What general principles underlie teaching? 

In preparing these outlines do not overlook the material 
covered in Lessons 1 to 30. But such material may be sum- 
marized under broad headings. The material in Lessons 31 to 
49 should be outlined in detail. 

The aim of this review is, of course, to build up general con- 
ceptions through the student's own reorganization of the entire 
course. In this way each part becomes closely associated with 
the other parts and consequently made more usable afterwards. 



189 



I 



LESSON 51 

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL 
ASPECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY 

So far in this course we have been content to describe human 
behavior as a response to a situation, including in this conception 
the thought of a bond which connects the situation with the 
response. We have now reached a point where it is necessary 
to scrutinize these three terms and see to just what they actually 
refer. It is evident, when we come to think about it, that, in the 
case where some one says "4: and 6" and I answer "10" there 
is no material bond of any sort which connects the ''4 and 6" 
and the ''10." A ''situation" and a "response" are not con- 
nected together with a "bond" of iron, or wood, or of flesh. 
How then are they connected together? And what is this 
"bond" we have so freely talked about? In order to answer 
these questions and many others of like nature we shall have to 
turn to the science of physiology for help. We shall have to do 
this because the process of hearing the "4 and 6" pronounced is 
a process depending upon the functioning of the ear; also my 
answering with the word "ten" is a process of moving my mouth 
and throat; and third, there is a process, it is clear, by which my 
mouth is made to move after my ear has been stimulated. This 
last process is due to the functioning of nerve cells which connect 
my ear with my mouth and throat. Now the science of physi- 
ology has for its field of investigation such phenomena as these 
processes just mentioned and consequently if we wish to under- 
stand them more thoroughly we shall have to study its findings. 

In this digression from psychology to physiology we shall have 
but three main problems before us. They are: First, what is the 
mechanism by which stimuli affect us? Second, what is the 
mechanism for making responses? And third, what is the mecha- 
nism by which a stimulus is connected with its response? All of 
this information is needed in order that we may understand 
better just how situations in every day life can, and do, produce 
certain responses. 

191 



192 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

In order to get a bird's eye view of this material let us consider 
one example in a general way. It is not meant that you should 
grasp and understand all the details of this example — they 
will come after the following sections have been covered — but 
rather that you shall obtain an idea of what the whole problem 
is about. In Plate XLI is illustrated in the simplest way possible 
the action which results when a pin is stuck into one's skin. 
^'The pin being stuck into the skin of the arm" (at B) can repre- 
sent the stimulus; 'Hhe arm jerked away," represented here by 
one muscle (C) is the response; and the two nerve cells, one 
extending from B to L and the other from E to C form the bond. 







Plate XLI. — Diagram illustrating the simplest form of reflex action. The 
line A represents the outer surface of the skin being pricked by a pin at the point 
B. D is the sensory nerve-fibre extending from B into the spinal cord and 
ending in contact with branches from the motor nerve-cell (E). F is the motor 
nerve-fibre extending from the motor nerve-cell (E) to the muscle (C). G is 
the white area in the spinal cord and H the gray matter. K is the sensory nerve- 
cell of which D is a part. 

Stimulation at B passes over the sensory nerve-fibre to L, jumps the gap to the 
motor-cell (E) and then passes over the motor nerve-fibre to C causing the 
muscle to contract. 

When the pin is stuck into the skin one or more pain-spots in 
the skin at that point are stimulated. This nervous stimulation 
travels over the nerve pathway into the spinal cord. At L 
the current jumps a tiny gap to the second nerve cell. The 
stimulation then proceeds from the spinal cord over this second 
nerve pathway to the muscles of the arm (represented by one 
muscle here). The stimulation is thus transmitted to the 
muscular tissue, causing it to contract and the arm is moved 



51 



PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY 



193 



\ 



away. Ml of the above is called a reflex act. The whole thing 
is done unconsciously and actually is finished before one feels the 
pain. 

The Three Levels of Nerve Action 

The nervous process illustrated in Plate XLI involves a sense- 
organ (pain spot in the skin), a muscle, and nerve cells connecting 
the two together by way of the spinal cord. Such a process is 




Plate XLII. — Diagram illustrating in outline form three responses resulting 
from stimulating the skin by picking it with a pin (at B). In the first case the 
current flows from B to C by way of D, L, and E, and the hand is jerked away. 
In the second case the current flows from B to Q and R by way of D, L, M, N, 
O, and Q or D, L, M, N, P, and R and the eyes are focused on the hurt spot. In 
the third case the current flows from B to X by way of D, L, M, N, S, T, U, V, 
and W resulting in a conscious movement of the left hand moved over to rub the 
hurt spot. 

spoken of as belonging to the ''spinal level '^ of nerve action. 
When the connection between sense-organ and muscle involves 
the mid-brain it is grouped in the "intermediate level;" and 

13 



194 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

when it involves the cortex of the brain, it is grouped in the 
' cortical level " of nerve action. 

The Spinal Level. — Connection between sense-organ and muscle 
takes place in the spinal cord. Such connection has already 
been described in connection with Plate XLI. It is also illus- 
trated again in Plate XLII where the stimulation caused by the 
pin at B causes a current to flow from B to L. Part of this cur- 
rent jumps across the gap to E and then flows on from E to C 
resulting in the muscle moving (arm jerked away) described 
above. 

The Intermediate Level. — In the illustration in Plate XLII 
part of the current which started at B and flowed to L jumps the 
gap to M instead of to E. It then travels up the spinal cord as 
far as the base of the brain (to the mid-brain) . Here part of this 
current jumps the gap from N to and part to P (actually to 
other points too). From the current flows to a muscle (Q) 
which helps turn the head and from P it flows to a muscle (R) 
which helps turn the eye. With the help of many such muscles 
the eye is focused on the hurt spot. In this case, as in the first 
one, we have the response without any consciousness at all. 
Although the spinal cord is involved in this action, the connecting 
of the sense-organ with muscles is in the mid-brain, not in the 
spinal cord. 

The Cortical Level. — In the third process, part of the current 
which came up the spinal cord from M to N jumped the gap to S 
and went on up to the cortex of the brain. Here it jumped the 
gap from T to U and then started down through the brain to the 
spinal cord and then down the cord until it came to V. Here it 
jumped another gap to W and then flowed out over this nerve 
pathway to muscle (X) and other muscles not represented. They 
contracted and the left arm, let us say, reached over and rubbed 
the hurt hand. Now this third process is essentially like the 
other two in the general description of the nervous action, 
except in this last case the current flowed for a part of the way 
through the cortex of the brain. When it does that we are 
apparently conscious of the process. Due to this third process 
we know that our hand hurts. No one has ever given a satis- 
factory explanation as to how or why consciousness is aroused 
when nerve cells in the cortex are involved but the fact remains 
that this is so. Possibly this analogy may help us grasp the 



61 PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY 195 

general idea, but it is only an analogy after all. Electric current 
flowing from the dynamo over wires in the street and into our 
houses does not give off Kght, but it does give offhghtwhenit 
flows over the tungsten filament in our incandescent lights. 
In like manner, apparently, it is only when nervous current passes 
over nerve cells in the cortex of the brain that it arouses conscious- 
ness (comparable to light in the analogy). 

Summary 

We have now traced in a rough way how a stimulus such as 
"a pin stuck into the arm" is connected with three separate 
responses, ''jerking the arm away," "focusing the eye on the 
hurt spot," and ''rubbing the spot with the other hand." 

The elements involved are (1) sense-organs (the mechanisms 
which receive stimulations), (2) muscles (the mechanisms by 
which responses are made), and (3) nerve-cells which connect 
the two together. 

Nerve-cells (or neurones, as they are more often termed) may 
be classified as (1) sensory neurones (which connect a sense- 
organ to the spinal cord or mid-brain), (2) motor neurones (which 
connect the spinal cord or mid-brain to a muscle), and (3) 
connecting neurones (which connect all parts of the spinal cord, 
mid-brain and brain together). 

Depending on the point of connection between the current 
flowing in from the sense-organ and flowing out toward the mus- 
cle we speak of (1) the spinal level, (2) the intermediate, or mid- 
brain, level, or (3) the cortical (cortex of the brain) level. 

Let us keep constantly in mind this whole process as depicted 
in Plate XLII and the above paragraphs so that as we proceed 
to study the separate parts we may come to understand them 
more and more thoroughly and to link them up with the whole 
process. 



LESSON 52 
MECHANISM BY WHICH STIMULI STIMULATES ONE 

Stimuli can effect us only by means of sense-organs. It is 
impossible to imagine a stimulus which has neither feeling, 
warmth, cold, nor painful quality, and cannot be seen, heard, 
smelt or tasted. A wireless message going through the air is such 
a phenomenon but it is not a stimulus as it does not affect us at 
all. The wireless operator is affected of course, by his receiving 
instrument, an apparatus which transforms the unseen and 
unheard vibrations into a series of clicks which reach his ear. 

Popularly speaking we have five senses — sight, hearing, taste, 
smell, and touch. Actually we have many more than these, as 
we shall see. Through these sense-organs we receive all our 
information of the outside world. The purpose of this section 
is to make clear the process by which situations stimulate us. 

(During this laboratory hour, read over the discussion which 
precedes each set of instructions and then perform the experi- 
ments. Be sure you understand the point of each before passing 
to the next. If you do not finish during the laboratory hour, 
you can do the remainder at home as no particular apparatus is 
necessary.) 

Cutaneous Sensations 

Touch is not a simple sensation but is made up of four kinds 
of sensations — touch, pain, warmth, and cold. The word sensa- 
tion refers to the simplest sort of conscious response which is 
possible as the result of a sense-organ being stimulated. As one 
explores his skin with the point of a knife-blade or toothpick 
he is conscious of touch, of pain, and of cold. If the knife- 
blade were warmed slightly, he would also from time to time be 
conscious of warmth. And after he had marked the spots on 
the skin with different colored inks where these different sensa- 
tions were obtained, he would realize that warmth, or cold, or 
touch, or even pain can only be obtained when certain points on 
the skin are touched. At first thought it is rather startling to 

196 



52 MECHANISM OF STIMULI 197 

think that one's skin can be touched in certain places and one will 
not be conscious of it. But this is true. Evidently there are 
four different kinds of spots; each arousing a different sensation, 
and besides there are places in between where no sensation is 
aroused as a result of slight pressure on the skin. 

Problem. — What are some of the characteristics of cutaneous 
sensations? 

Apparatus. — A tooth-pick, pin, two large nails; black, red, 
green, and purple ink. 

Procedure. — (1) Mark off with black ink a 3-^-inch square, on 
the under surface of S's arm 2-3 of the way from the wrist to the 
elbow. Remove all hairs. Now explore this area with a tooth- 
pick touching the skin very gently so that the skin just gives 
under the pressure of the toothpick and record each point at 
which S (who is blindfolded) reports he feels the toothpick. Do 
not drag the toothpick over the skin. Record the points (by 
making a tiny black ink spot on the skin wherever you find a 
touch spot. 

2. Re-explore the area using a pin to discover pain-spots. The 
pressure of the pin should be only slightly greater than with the 
toothpick. S should now report not touch-spots but only those 
spots where slight pain is felt. Record these spots by making a 
tiny red spot on the skin. 

3. Explore this area in the same way for cold spots. The 
point of a lead pencil or of any piece of metal, as a nail, will 
serve very well for this purpose. In this case the point may be 
dragged along the skin. Use green ink to record your cold spots. 

4. Explore this area in the same way for warm spots. Use a 
warmed nail furnished by the instructor for exploring the skin. 
Use purple ink to record your warm spots. (A nail protruding 
slightly from the cork of a bottle containing hot water does very 
well for this purpose. The bottles can be kept immersed in hot 
water until needed.) 

Results. — Satisfy yourself that you have the correct answers to 
the following questions: 

1 . Do you get different sensations when you stimulate the skin 
with a toothpick, a pin, a cold nail and a warm nail? 

2. Are there distinct points on the skin which always give the 
same response, if they give any at all, or can you get different 
responses from the same point on the skin? 



198 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

3. Will the toothpick arouse any other sensation than touch ; the 
pin, than pain; the nail, than cold; the warmed nail, than warmth? 

4. Which of the four kinds of spots are most numerous; which 
least numerous? 

5. Is it possible to touch the skin with a toothpick and obtain 
no response? Are there points on the skin where the pin can be 
applied to the skin and not give pain sensation? How about the 
application of cold and warm nails? 

6. What relationship exists between touch-spots and the 
position of hairs on the arm? 

Kinesthetic Sensations 

Kinsesthetic sensations are very similar to touch and pain 
sensations from the skin. They are to be distinguished from the 
latter in that the cutaneous sense-organs are located very near 
the surface of the skin, whereas the kinsesthetic sense-organs are 
located within the muscles of the body and about the tendons 
which connect the muscles with the skeleton. These kinsesthetic 
sense-organs are somewhat similar in structure to the touch sense- 
organs of the skin. They are obviously not aroused by external 
objects striking them as are cutaneous sense-organs, but they 
are stimulated by the changes in pressure of the surrounding tissue 
upon them. When the arm is doubled up certain muscles have 
contracted to accomplish this motion, certain other muscles 
have at the same time relaxed. Consequently the kinsesthetic 
sense-organs located in the first set of muscles have been more or 
less squeezed while the sense-organs in the second set of muscles 
have not been pressed upon as usual. At the same time the sense- 
organs about the tendons have been stimulated in a corresponding 
manner. These changes in stimulation are reported to the brain 
and through experience are interpreted to mean that the arm is 
doubled up. 

All of our information, as to where our arms and legs and fingers 
are, is reported to the brain in this way, barring, of course, such 
additional information on this subject as is reported through the 
eye or skin. ^'Movements of the body," ^'weight," and '^resis- 
tance to movement" are very complex sensations due to the brain 
receiving stimulations of varying intensities from thousands of 
sense-organs scattered through the muscles and about the 
tendons. It is then through kinsesthetic sensations that we get 



52 MECHANISM OF STIMULI 199 

our basic notion of such physical terms as, ''motion," ''energy" 
and "mass." 

Problem. — What are some of the characteristics of kinsesthetic 
sensations? 

Apparatus. — Simple objects at hand. 

Procedure. — 1. Endeavor to lift the table by placing one after 
another of the four fingers under the edge of the table and lifting 
up. Determine where the sense-organs are located which are 
affected by this upward pressure, and which give you some appre- 
ciation of the weight of the table. 

2. Shut your eyes and turn the head slowly about from right to 
left. Determine where you obtain part at least of the stimulations 
which tell you the position of your head at each moment. 

3. Shut your eyes and rest your arm on the table in as relaxed 
a position as possible. Let your partner move your fingers about 
while you determine as well as you can how you know where each 
finger is. Cutaneous stimulations are, of course, present, so in- 
clude them in your discussion. But determine what else is present. 

4. Shut your eyes and extend your arms before you palms up. 
Let your partner place two books or similar objects upon your 
hands. Determine how you distinguish which is heavier. 

5. Extend your left arm before you while blindfolded. Then 
touch a point on the left hand with your right forefinger as desig- 
nated by your partner. Determine how you know where your 
left hand is and how you guide the right hand to it. 

6. Write your name as usual; then with your eyes closed. To 
what extent is the writing of your name determined by (a) 
cutaneous and kinsesthetic sensations and (b) visual sensations? 

7. Close your eyes; have your partner hold your hand and so 
move it about that you write some short phrase. Can you tell 
what was written by your own hand? In what respect is this 
situation different from that of ordinary writing? 

Assignment for Next Class-hour 

Read over the remainder of this section and then write out the 
answers to the above questions. 

Cutaneous Sense-organs 

From physiology we learn that located just beneath the skin 
there are a number of different kinds of nerve-endings. We do 



200 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

not yet know all that we should like to about these nerve-endings 
but it does appear with a fair degree of certainty that there is a 
different one for each of the four sensations of touch, pain, 
warmth, and cold. And, moreover, a nerve-ending which 
gives us the sensation of cold never gives us any other sensation 
but cold. The same applies to the other nerve-endings. Each 
sense-organ gives us a characteristic sensation and never any other 
sensation hut this characteristic one. This fact is important and 
should be especially noted. But, on the other hand, many 
different kinds of stimulations can produce the same sensation. 
A cold spot for example will produce a sensation of cold: (1) 
when a cold object touches it, (2) when a hot object touches it 
(but not when a warm object touches it), (3) when an object 
presses on it (pressure), (4) when it receives a slight electric shock, 
or (5) when certain chemicals, as menthol, stimulate it. In the 
same way a pain spot is aroused and gives us the sensation of pain 
when: (1) it is lightly touched, (2) it is affected by extreme cold, 
(3) it is affected by heat (4) it is pressed upon, and (5) it is 
stimulated by electricity. 

These sense-spots are distributed unevenly over the surface 
of the body, being more frequent on the palms of the hands and 
on the lips than other places and being very infrequent on the 
back. The total number of the various sense-organs also varies 
exceedingly. They appear in the approximate ratio of 1 warm 
spot, 10 cold spots, 10 touch spots, and 40 pain spots. There 
are certain portions of the body which are lacking in one or more 
of these sense-organs. The cornea of the eye lacks warm spots 
and parts of the cornea lack also cold spots. It has pain spots 
but no touch spots. A portion of the inner membrane of the 
cheek is sensitive to touch but not to pain. 

Simple and Compound Sensations 

Besides these four elemental sensations there are various com- 
pound sensations, such as: Heat, burning sensation, hardness, 
softness, wetness, dryness, sharpness, smoothness, roughness, 
itching, tickling, creepy sensations, blushing, etc. All of these 
are made up of certain combinations of the four elemental sensa- 
tions or of smaller sensations located in the muscles. For exam- 
ple: heat is a fusion of warmth and cold; burning sensation of 
warmth and pain; itching is mainly composed of pain sensations; 



52 MECHANISM OF STIMULI 201 

as is tickling of touch sensations. The latter can be aroused by 
brushing the hairs of the skin. (At the base of each hair is 
located a touch-spot.) Creepy sensations are a complex, prob- 
ably, of pain and cold. 

Nature's ''thermometer" illustrates this matter of compound 
sensations very nicely. We do not naturally think in terms of 
degrees of heat, but rather in terms of pain, burning hot, hot, 
lukewarm, no particular temperature, cool, cold, biting cold. 
These various compounds are due to different degrees (intensity) 
of stimulation of certain sense-organs and to the various combina- 
tions of sense-organs which are stimulated. Temperatures of 
about 86° Fahrenheit (82° to 93° according to the temperature 
to which the body has been adjusted) arouse no sensations of 
temperature. Increasing the temperature from 86° we first 
have the warm spots stimulated, with the resulting sensation 
(response) of lukewarmness. The higher the temperature the 
more the warm spots are stimulated, and the greater is the sensa- 
tion of warmth. At 113° cold spots are also stimulated and the 
resulting fusion of warm and cold sensations is heat. Above 
122° we have in addition to the stimulations of warm and cold 
sense-organs stimulation of pain sense-organs. The fusion of all 
three gives us the sensation of burning heat. In much the 
same way as we progress from 86° downward in temperature we 
get cool sensations; and these cool sensations are due to cold 
spots being more and more stimulated until 54° is reached. At 
this point pain sense-organs are stimulated. The fusion of cold 
and pain sense-organs give us biting cold and finally pain. Thus 
our terms, ''biting cold," "heat," and "burning hot," though 
apparently as simple as "cold," and "warm," are nevertheless 
fusions or compounds of these two simpler sensations together 
with "pain." 

Simple Sensations are Not Learned. — As soon as the entire 
nervous mechanism is in working order after birth, a stimulation 
of any of these four sense-organs will produce its characteristic 
sensation. In other words, we do not need to learn that a stimu- 
lation of a cold spot has the sensation (response) cold. We are 
born with a bond connecting such a situation with its response. 
Such sensations are comparable to reflexes. 

Compound Sensations are Learned. — We do need to learn, 
however, that acute touch occurring over an extremely narrow 



202 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

surface means sharpness (as with a razor-blade) or that when the 
finger is moved with no jars and only touch-sensations result that 
that means smoothness. The compound sensations are learned 
while the simple sensations are not, i. e., are innate. During 
the early months of life a baby is engaged very largely in learning 
what various combinations of touch, visual, auditory, etc., sensa- 
tions mean, i. e., what objects arouse these combinations, or to 
put it the other way round, what objects really are, as explained 
in terms of the unlearned responses (simple sensations) which 
he has at his disposal. Review in this connection the description 
of the process by which a baby's perception of a rattle develops, 
as given in Lesson 45. 

In the early months of life we learn through trial and error that 
a rattle requires so much effort to pick up and that the fingers 
will close about it in a certain way. A doll, on the other hand, 
will require more effort and the hand will close about it in a differ- 
ent way. With his eyes shut a year-old baby will know a rattle 
from a doll which his hand touches, in terms of differences in the 
number, location, and intensity of the kinaesthetic sense-organs 
which are stimulated and also in the number, location and inten- 
sity of the cutaneous sense-organs which are stimulated. It is 
difficult for an adult to appreciate that these fusions must be 
learned because they are developed early in life and become so 
automatic as seldom to arouse our interest in them as such. 
We gain a little notion of action when we attempt to become 
experts in distinguishing textiles by feeling, or in estimating 
weights as to whether a letter needs more than two cents postage, 
etc. 

In the case of judging textiles we develop certain concepts 
which we use in the work, such concepts being the integration 
of certain groups of sensations. An expert in textiles will tell 
you when you inquire as to how he knows one material from 
another that it is by the '4ook and feel." Through practice 
he has built up certain combinations of touch and visual and 
even auditory sensations which mean a certain material. If you 
press an expert as to how he makes these judgments he usually 
cannot tell. He is not aware of the separate sensations which 
make up the total combination. A few experts can give some- 
what of an explanation. Mrs. Blanche E. Hyde says that 
she tells wool by its " bite " and silk by its ''scroop." The sheep's 



52 MECHANISM OF STIMULI 203 

hair from which wool is made is not a smooth hair but has little 
sharp points which catch on the skin when handled, as any one 
knows who has worn a flannel shirt. This is for Mrs. Hyde one of 
the sensations which makes up the total ''look and feel" of wool. 
But it is clear that it is only one, since she is able to detect wool 
as it appears in many combinations with other materials and 
manufactured in many ways. The '' scroop " of silk is apparently 
a combination of a certain touch with a peculiar rustling noise 
occasioned when two pieces of the silk are rubbed together 
between the thumb and finger. But to the writer other materials 
which are not silk seemingly give forth a ''scroop" when rubbed, — 
materials which are instantly named by Mrs. Hyde. 

The ''feel," as we say, for location of keys on a typewriter or 
piano, or of position on a violin, is no more than a realization of 
particular combinations of cutaneous and kinsesthetic sensations. 
We don't know the individual sensations that make up the 
compound but we do know the compound itself, as is shown by 
the quickness with which we notice a false move. 

All of our motor habits are developed principally in terms of 
kinsesthetic sensations, although sensations from other sense- 
organs play a more or less important part. In lacing one's 
shoes, the first movement arouses a great number of kinsesthetic, 
cutaneous and visual sensations. This compound then makes up 
the situation which starts the next movement going. The 
second movement in turn arouses a new set of kinsesthetic, 
cutaneous and visual sensations. They in turn form the situa- 
tion which initiates the third movement, etc. Just what part 
the visual sensations play in handwriting as distinguished from 
the kinsesthetic can be readily seen by writing with the eyes 
open and then with them shut. As there is no way of shutting off 
the kinsesthetic sensations except by cutting the nerves connect- 
ing the kinsesthetic sense-organs with the brain we cannot tell 
how well we could write if we had only visual sensations to guide 
us. From certain types of nervous disorders, however, it is 
clear that we would be fearfully handicapped by such a loss and 
that our best efforts would fall far short of what we now do. 
Possibly the best way to realize this is to have some one hold your 
hand at the blackboard while you are blindfolded and guide your 
hand so as to write various sentences. Here a new set of 
kinsesthetic sensations are aroused and it is surprising how difficult 
it is to judge what one's own hand has written. 



204 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

Skill in the use of tools is pretty largely a matter of developing 
groups of compound sensations composed of cutaneous, kinses- 
' thetic, visual and often auditory sensations. As ordinarily we 
are not aware of the elements, learning to use a plane, for exam- 
ple, has to be a matter of trial and error learning. The more, 
however, our instructor explains the plane and corrects our 
faulty moves, the more are we made conscious of the details 
involved in the whole process and of the necessary sequence, and 
the quicker we learn. 

What is a ''Situation?" 

/\ In Lesson 3 the distinction between situation and stimulus 
was pointed out. The term situation was defined as the sum 
total of all factors affecting an individual at one moment to 
which he responds. This ''sum total" was recognized to include 
two distinct factors: — first, factors external to the nervous system 
which stimulate one or more sense-organs; and second, factors 
within the nervous system, such as habits of responding in a 
certain way, emotions, desires, and the like. The first group of 
factors are, strictly speaking, stimuli. 

A stimulus is something that stimulates a sense-organ. This 
always implies, of course, the presence of a sense-organ to be 
stimulated and the presence of a sensory nerve which transmits 
the stimulation from the sense-organ to the central nervous 
system. For one would not jerk his hand off a hot stove if (1) 
the hot stove were not there, (2) the sense-organs of the skin were 
anajsthetized, or (3) the nerve were cut. As far as behavior is 
concerned the stmulus is not an external object but the kind of 
nervous stimulation which reaches the central nervous system. 

The total situation to which one responds is accordingly 
dependent upon the incoming nervous stimulations and the 
various systems of nerve cells which are active at the time, all 
of these determining the pathway over which the stimulations 
will travel to the muscles that respond; and that pathway, as we 
have seen, is controlled by previous learning and the "wants" 
present at the moment which "select" from all the incoming 
stimulations those to which a response will be made. (The 
wants again are expressions, not simply of innate instincts, but 
the modifications of these innate wants that have been built up 
from experience.) 



LESSON 53 

THE EYE : A MECHANISM BY WHICH STIMULI STIMU- 
LATES ONE 

In the case of the cutaneous and kinsesthetic sense-organs the 
structure of the sense-organ is relatively simple. There the 
stimulus affects the nerve ending in a direct manner. The eye, 
on the other hand, is an elaborate mechanism. 

In order to understand this mechanism it is necessary first of 
all to obtain some idea of the structure of the sense-organ itself 
and also the physical nature of the stimulus. 

Structure of the Eye 

The eye can be best understood if it is compared to a camera. 
The three parts essential to a camera are the box, the lens, and 
the film. Let us consider the structure of the eye with these three 
divisions before us. 

The Gross Structure of the Eye (The Box). — ''The eye has a 
tough, thick outer coat, the sclerotic, to which are attached the 
muscles that move it" about in its socket. ''Inside the sclerotic 
is another membrane, the choroid, which contains blood vessels 
and is provided with a dense dark pigment that renders the inside 
of the eye essentially impervious to all light, save that which 
comes through the opening in the ms." Inside the choroid is 
the third layer, the retina, which is our "film." Note the rela- 
tionship of these parts in Plate XLIII. 

The Lens System is made up of two parts — the cornea and the 
crystalline lens. The cornea is really only a part of the sclerotic 
coat. But the structure of the tissue is changed somewhat from 
the remainder of the sclerotic layer — being transparent instead 
of being white and opaque. The lens lies just behind the iris, 
the colored portion of the eye. It is attached to the choroid 
coat by a ligament, which is in turn attached to the ciliary muscle. 
Between the cornea and the lens we have a small chamber filled 
with a liquid much like water (aqueous humour). Back of the 

205 



206 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

lens we have another chamber, occupying the interior of the eye. 
This chamber is filled with a jelly-like substance (called the vitre- 
ous humour). 

The Retina (The Film). — As already pointed out, the retina is 
the inner membrane of the eye. It is really a part of the brain, 
being composed of nerve-cells which in the course of development 
have come to the surface. It is made up essentially of three 
layers of these nerve-cells, the inner layer being composed of 
what are known as rods and cones. (According to Kolliker the 
cones in the fovea are from 0.0045 mm. to 0.0055 mm. in diame- 
ter, i. e., 0.000177 inches to 0.0002165 inches. This gives some 
idea of their minuteness.^) 




Plate XLIII. — Opt., optic nerve; Fov. c, fovea centralis; Scler., sclerotic; 
Chor., choroid; Ret., retina; Conj., conjunctiva; Pr, cil., ciliary processes by 
means of which lens is adjusted; Cam. ant., anterior chamber filled with aqueous 
humour; p. posterior chamber. Just below "p " the capsule and ligament sup- 
porting the lens are shown attached to the ciliary processes. Corpus vitreum, 
the vitreous humour of the main cavity of the eyeball. (From J. R. Angell, 
Psychology, 1909, Figure 47, published by Henry Holt and Companj'-.) 

Directly opposite the iris and the center of the lens is the fovea. 
This is a point in the retina where there are only cones. It is 
the point of clearest vision — the part of the eye which receives 
the greatest number of stimulations. This is true, since when- 
ever we are looking directly at an object the head and eyes have 
been so turned that the light waves fall upon this spot. Leading 
back from the nerve-cells in the retina are nerve-fibers which 
unite and form the optic nerve which proceeds first to the mid- 

^G. T. Ladd and R. S.Woodworth, Physiological Psychology ,1911, p. S16. 



53 THE EYE 207 

brain and then on to the cerebrum. The rods and cones have 
apparently different functions. Color is perceived because of 
the stimulation of the cones, while light and darkness are per- 
ceived because of the rods. Especially is this function of the rods 
true as regards vision in dim light. Color blindness is due to an 
affection of the cones, while faulty vision in dim light is due to 
that of the rods. 

The Nature of the Light Stimulus 

In both visual and auditory sensations we must distinguish 
three different stages in the sensory excitation. There are first, 
the physical stimulus, second, a physiological change in the 
sense-organ, and third, the resulting conscious quality. 

The visual physical stimulus is due, so physics teaches us, to 
vibration in the ether, whereas the auditory physical stimulus 
is due to vibration in the air. Such vibrations may vary in 
three ways: in the rate of vibration, in the amplitude of the 
vibration, or in the form of the wave.^ 

1. Changes in the rate of vibration. The ether may vibrate 
more slowly or more rapidly. When it vibrates at the rate of 
390,000,000,000,000 per second we become conscious of the color 
red. When it vibrates at twice this rate (i. e., 757,000,000,000,- 
000 per second) we become conscious of violet. The other colors 
fall in between these two extremes. Beyond these two extremes 
are other vibration rates which are known to physics but which 
do not stimulate the retina. Ultraviolet rays do not affect the 
human camera but they do affect the film of a kodak. Other 
such rays invisible to man are the X-rays, and the rays by which 
wireless messages are sent. Changes in the rate of vibration 

^ Those unfamiliar with these terms will do well to experiment with a guy- 
wire supporting a telephone pole, which is attached at the top of the pole 
and to an anchor in the ground. Or a stout string tautly stretched from 
one end of the room to the other will serve the purpose. Strike the wire 
with a stick or the string with a pencil and note the wave that runs along 
it. The wire itself does not move forward but it so vibrates that a wave 
does travel and if one will take hold of the far end of the wire or string he will 
note that considerable force is exerted by the wire against its end support. 
In these examples the rate of vibration depends upon the material, length, 
etc., of the wire. The amplitude (size of the wave) depends upon how hard 
it is hit. The form of the wave depends upon whether it is hit once or twice 
in very quick succession, etc. 



208 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

within certain limits are responsible for the particular colors that 
are consciously seen. 

2. Changes in the amplitude of the vibration result in differ- 
ences in the intensity of the colors, i. e., in the brightness of the 
colors. Amplitude refers to the amount of back and forth swing 
to the vibration. If one strikes a tuning fork it gives forth a 
loud tone at the start when the prongs are swinging back and 
forth vigorously and as this movement dies down the tone 
becomes weaker and weaker. Here there is a change in the 
amplitude as the vibration dies down but no change in the rate 
of vibration. Suppose in the case of light we have 390,000,000,- 
000,000 vibrations per second striking the retina, giving us the 
sensation red. Now if the amplitude was practically zero, i. e., 
there was practically no back and forth swing, this red would 
appear practically black. As the amplitude was increased one 
would have successively, brown, dark red, red, bright red, pink, 
and with a very great amplitude, white. Changes in the ampli- 
tude, then, determine the amount of white or gray or black that 
is seen either alone or in combination with a color. 

3. Changes in the form of the wave. The ether may be 
vibrating so as to produce pure red or pure blue or it may be 
vibrating so as to produce red and blue at the same moment. 
In this case we are not conscious of red and blue separately but 
of the color purple instead. White light from the sun is a case 
where the ether is vibrating to give us all the colors simultan- 
eously. With the use of a prism these various vibrations can 
be separated and then we get all of the colors instead of their 
blending, which appears to us as white. 

Change from the Physical Stimulus to Physiological Process. — 
The physical stimulus — the vibrating ether — having traveled 
from the object outside to the retina affects the rods and cones 
in some way still unknown. A number of theories have been 
advanced but no one has been accepted by all. All that we do 
know is that here a radical change takes place in the form of the 
light stimulus, for the ether vibrations now set up certain physio- 
logical or chemical changes in the rods and cones. This chemical 
action is then transmitted along the nerve fibers to the mid-brain 
and then on to the cortex of the brain. Possibly the best 
analogy to explain the transmission of this chemical change is to 
picture a train of gunpowder along a sidewalk. When a burning 



53 THE EYE 209 

match is applied at one end the combustion is almost instantan- 
eously transmitted to the other end. Combustion is, of course, a 
simple chemical change, so that the spread of the fire is an 
instance of spread of chemical change. Recent experiments 
prove that CO2 is given off by nerve-fibers when engaged in 
transmitting stimulations, indicating the presence of chemical 
changes in the fibre. Then, too, the fact that the nervous 
impulse travels comparatively slowly, i. e., 100 feet per second, 
suggests a chemical process. This is very slow as compared with 
the speed of sound which is 1,100 feet per second, or of light which 
is 186,000 miles per second. Electricity in a good conductor will 
go about as fast as light. Evidently then the stimulus does not 
remain physical throughout but is changed into a physiological 
one when the light waves strike the retina. And from here the 
stimulus is conveyed over several nerve-cells to the optic nerve 
and over this pathway to the mid-brain and from there finally to 
the cortex of the brain. 

The Change from Physiological Process to Conscious Quality. 
In the cortex of the brain this stimulus which has traversed the 
optic nerve gives rise to the conscious qualities of brightness 
(black-gray-white) and color with which we are all familiar. 
But here again we know nothing as to how the nervous changes in 
the nerve-cells produce the qualities of which we are conscious. 

How We See the North Star. — Because of the molten state of 
the North Star it causes the ether to be set into vibration. This 
vibration-wave is very complex so that when its light-wave is 
broken up by passing it through a prism we can obtain many differ- 
ent colors. Although light travels at the incredible rate of 186,000 
miles per second, astronomers figure it takes 44.0 years for the 
vibration to reach the eye. It passes through the cornea, the 
aqueous humour, the lens, the vitreous humour, and the two outer 
layers of the retina and finally reaches the rods and cones. Here 
it arouses a physiological process (through chemical changes, 
possibly somewhat similar to the change produced in a kodak 
film). This process is transmitted to the brain and there inter- 
preted in terms of a spot of light in the dark sky. 

Convergence, Divergence and Accommodation 

By means of six muscles attached to each eye, the eye balls may 
be turned in their sockets so that the rays of light from an object, 

14 



210 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

at which we are looking, may fall upon the fovea. When the 
two eyes are made to turn inward toward a nearby object the 
process is called convergence. When they are turned outward 
toward a distant object it is called divergence. Within and about 
these six muscles are many kinesthetic sense-organs. When the 
muscles relax or contract these sense-organs are stimulated. 
These kinsesthetic stimulations are scarcely ever noticed in a 
conscious way. Nevertheless, estimation of distance is based 
to a very considerable extent upon them. 

Through the processes of convergence and divergence the two 
eyes are adjusted so as to be both turned toward the same point. 
But this is not sufficient to secure clear vision. In a camera we 
must regulate the distance of the lens from the film according 
as the object to be photographed is near or far away. In the 
human eye this adjustment is made not by moving the lens but 
by changing its shape. This process is called accommodation. The 
ciliary muscle controls the lens causing it to become more or less 
convex, thus affecting the convergence of the rays of light upon 
the fovea. In monocular vision differences in distance up to a 
few feet can be estimated fairly accurately in terms of the kinaes- 
thetic sensations arising from the ciliary muscle. These estima- 
tions are, however, unconsciously made. 

Defective Vision 

Myopia and Hyperopia. — In the normal eye the distance from 
the cornea to the fovea is 20 millimeters (J-^ of an inch). If now 
the eye is so constructed that this distance is greater than 20 mm. 
the image of distant objects is formed in front of the retina and 
only near objects can be clearly seen (near-sightedness or myopia) . 
On the other hand, if this distance is less than 20 mm. then the 
image of objects will be formed behind the retina and the refrac- 
tive power of the eye must be increased to permit of clear vision 
(long-sightedness or hyperopia). ''The hyperopic eye must 
consequently exert an effort of accommodation in order clearly 
to see objects at a distance, while for near work this effort must 
be excessive. The result is that the hyperopic eye is under con- 
stant and abnormal strain from the incessant demands upon 
its ciliary muscle, and that, in consequence, numerous secondary 
symptoms or resultant effects appear, some of them obvious, 
others unexpected, many of them serious. Local symptoms 



53 THE EYE 211 

appear in inflammation, redness, or soreness of the eyes, lids or 
conjunctiva, and in twitchings and pain within the eye ball. 
Aside from these local disturbances, perhaps the most constant 
symptom of hyperopia is frontal or occipital headache.''^ 

Both myopia and hyperopia may be counteracted by the use of 
glasses. 

Astigmatism. — "In a perfectly normal or ideal eye the refrac- 
tive surfaces, cornea, anterior and posterior surfaces of the lens, 
are sections of true spheres, and, all the meridians being of equal 
curvature the refraction along these different meridians is equal. 
Such an eye will bring the cone of rays proceeding from a lumin- 
ous point to a focal point on the retina, barring the disturbing 
influence of chromatic and spherical aberration. If, however, 
one or all of the refractive surfaces have unequal curvatures 
along different meridians, then it is obvious that the rays from 
a luminous point cannot be brought to a focal point, since the 
rays along the meridian of greater curvature will be brought to 
a focus first and begin to diverge before the rays along the lesser 
curvature are focused. Such a condition is designated as 
astigmatism. "2 

In a person afflicted with astigmatism there must be a ceaseless 
activity of the ciliary muscle as first one point and then another 
of a scene is focused. In normal vision many of such points can 
be focused at the same time thereby requiring less effort of this 
muscle and also providing fuller and richer vision. Astigmatism 
can ordinarily be corrected by wearing properly fitted glasses. 

Color-blindness. — About 4% of men and less than 0.5% of 
women are color-blind. Most of these are red-green blind which 
means that they do not see any difference between these two 
colors. "Total color-blindness, while well-authenticated, is 
rare, and is presumably a pathological defect." "It is obvious 
that many callings are, or should be, closed to the color-blind, 
e. g., railroading, marine and naval service, medicine, chemical 
analysis, painting and decorating, certain branches of botany, 
microscopy, mineralogy, the handling of dry goods, millinery, etc. 
In some phases of school work, the color-blind pupil is likewise 
at an evident disadvantage. The color-blind test should, 

1 G. M., Whipple, Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, 2nd edition, 1914, 
p. 164. 

2 W. H. Howell, A Text-Book' of Physiology, 1907, p. 302. 



212 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

accordingly, be regularly instituted in the early years of school 
life, in order that the existence of the defect may be made known 
to the child as soon as possible."^ 

Fusion of Visual and Tactual Sensations 

Stratton carried on some experiments a number of years ago, 
as follows. He wore constantly for a week a pair of glasses with 
two lenses so constructed that every object appeared upside down. 
''The results showed that an experience coming from such an 
image would in time be indistinguishable from our normal 
experience. The first effect was to make things, as seen, appear 
to be in a totally different place from that in which they were 
felt. But this discord between visual and tactual positions 
tended gradually to disappear; not that the visual scene finally 
turned to the position it had before the inversion, but rather the 
tactual feeling of things tended to swing into line with the 
altered sight of them. The observer came more and more to 
refer his touch impressions to the place where he saw the object 
to be; so that it was clearly a mere matter of time when a com- 
plete agreement of touch and sight would be secured under these 
unusual conditions." As Stratton points out ''harmony of 
touch and sight can grow up under the greatest variety of cir- 
cumstances, provided merely that the experience remains uni- 
form long enough to develop fixed expectation. "^ 

Summary 

The eye is a mechanism for adjusting physical light vibrations 
so that they will arouse physiological changes in the retina, 
which, in turn, will be conveyed to the brain and interpreted in 
terms of our past experiences. A visual situation must be 
thought of, not in terms of the object itself, but in terms of the 
nervous processes which are aroused by it. 

Organic, Gustatory, Olfactory, Auditory and Static 

Sensations 

In addition to cutaneous, kinsesthetic and visual sensations, 
we have several others. Organic sense-organs are similar to 

1 G. M. Whipple, op. ciL, p. 189. 

2 G. M. Stratton, Experimental Psychology and Culture, 1903, p. 146-149. 



53 THE EYE 213 

cutaneous and kinesthetic, but are located not in the skin or 
about the muscles, but in and about the internal organs. From 
these sense-organs we obtain the little information that we do 
receive as to the working of these organs. They arouse such 
sensations as thirst; hunger; nausea; heartburn; suffocation; pain 
of a general, massive, agony type ; and general bodily feelings of 
well or ill. Gustatory sense-organs are located in the mouth, and 
olfactory in the upper portion of the nasal cavity. Sensations 
of taste and odor are too familiar to need discussion here. 

Organic, gustatory and olfactory sensations are similar to 
cutaneous and kinsesthetic. A specific stimulus affects a very 
simple sense-organ consisting apparently of not much more than 
a nerve ending and we obtain the sensation characteristic of that 
sense-organ. 

Auditory situations, on the other hand, are received and affect 
consciousness by means of an elaborate receiving mechanism 
similar to the eye in complexity. It is not essential that the 
anatomy of the ear be mastered. It is sufficient that one realizes 
that a physical stimulation — vibration of the air — is converted 
within the ear into a physiological stimulation which is transmitted 
over the auditory nerve to the brain and that there the air vibra- 
tion is expressed in consciousness in the form of different tones 
and noises and their combinations. 

Still another type of situation which affects us is known as the 
''static." We are not directly conscious of it, but only indirectly 
through its influence upon other sense-organs, particularly the 
organic sense-organs. Within the semi-circular canals of the ear 
and two adjacent small bodies are little hairs projecting into the 
liquid filling these organs. Whenever the head is moved, the 
Kquid is disturbed, just as water in a glass is disturbed if the glass 
is moved. The liquid in turn disturbs the hairs, which in turn 
excite the nerves connected with them. These stimulations are 
transmitted to the mid-brain and from thence to various sense- 
centers which control the movements of the body. Here is the 
mechanism, for example, which starts the movement to regain our 
equilibrium when we slip on a banana peel. Excessive stimula- 
tion of these static sense-organs, as in swinging in a swing, whirling 
around, being tossed about in a ship, etc., brings about changes in 
the bodily organs. These changes in turn affect the organic 
sense-organs therein situated and we feel dizzy, or seasick. 



214 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

REFERENCES 

J. R. Angell, Psychology, 1909, pp. 131-145. 

W. H. Howell, Text-hook of Physiology, 1907, pp. 286-362. 

Ladd & Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, pp. 182-196. 

J. D. Lickley, The Nervous System, 1912, Chap. X. 

W. B. Pillsbury, Essentials of Psychology, 1911, pp. 82-95. 

G. M. Whipple, Manual of Mental and Phijsical Tests, 1914, pp. 164-200. 



LESSON 54 
HOW DOES ONE ESTIMATE DISTANCE? 

Space-perception 

We have seen in Lesson 52 that there are four cutaneous sensa- 
tions which are simple experiences and cannot be resolved into any 
simpler sort of consciousness. We have also seen that there are a 
great many other so-called sensations which appear at first thought 
to be equally simple, such as hardness, softness, dryness, smooth- 
ness, etc. But, on closer study, these can all be resolved into 
simpler sensations. These so-called sensations have been referred 
to as compound sensations. Compound sensations have been 
developed through experience — have been learned. Another 
term of somewhat similar meaning is ''percept." When we use 
the expression ''compound sensation" we have reference primarily 
to the abstract quality, say of sharpness; when "percept" is 
employed we are thinking of the particular object which is sharp. 
Actually, it is very improbable if we ever experience "sharpness" 
as a compound sensation in this sense. Rather, we always think 
not only of sharpness but also of the object which occasions the 
sharpness. That is, the combination of elementary sensations 
gives us directly the perception of a sharp object. 

Apparently the estimation of any distance is a perception, due to 
the combination of certain sensations experienced together and 
from experience known as "this object" "so far from us." Now 
we want to discover in this lesson and in Lesson 56 some of the 
factors in terms of which we perceive that a certain object is 
nearer than a second object and farther away than a third object. 
For example, how do you know that the tree you see is outside the 
window instead of inside? How do you know this telephone pole 
is nearer than that one? 

This problem is assigned not only because it is worth while in 
itself, but because it will illustrate to some extent how we have 
built up through experience such notions as distance, time, space, 
height, weight, etc. In fact, the fundamental principles of how 

215 



216 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

we have learned to estimate distance underlie the development of 
all our perceptions of objects, as a cow, horse, barn, book, etc. 
(Review Lesson 45) . 

This problem is also assigned because it illustrates the analysis 
teachers must make of the processes they are to teach. The more 
detailed a grasp of the separate processes involved in using a plane, 
or saw, or pen, or typewriter he has, the better can the teacher 
teach their use. For when the complex whole has been analyzed 
into its component parts, then the teacher can call the student's 
attention to the parts and aid him in mastering each part and 
performing them in their proper sequence. Otherwise the learn- 
ing must be entirely a 'Hrial and error" performance — the most 
tedious way of learning. 

Estimation of Distance 

The problem before us primarity is the determination of the 
distance of one object with reference to other objects, i. e., is 
it nearer or farther away than the other objects? The conversion 
of this idea of relative distance into measurements of distance, 
is another matter and will not concern us in this experiment. 

If we close one eye and move our finger back and forth toward 
the nose and then away from it, it is clear that we can deter- 
mine its position with regard to our nose very well. How we 
do this with one eye (monocular vision) is one problem. 

If we look with both eyes at near objects and then objects 
farther away (but less than 100 feet), it is again clear that we can 
determine their relative position very well. How we do this with 
both eyes (binocular vision) is a second problem. 

And if we look at distant objects through the window, it is also 
clear that we can determine their relative distance, although 
possibly not so well. How we do this is a third problem. 

The second problem of binocular vision under 100 feet distance 
will be attacked in this lesson; the first and third problems in 
Lesson 56. 

Experiment 

Problem. — What are the factors underlying the perception of 
distance of objects within 100 feet with binocular vision? 

Apparatus. — A number of small objects; a stereoscope and 
views of the Titchener Series. 



64 *HOW DOES ONE ESTIMATE DISTANCE? 217 

Procedure. — (1) Select some narrow object (A), e. g., the string 
attached to the curtain in the window, or the wooden strip between 
two panes of glass in the window, or a drop cord supporting an 
electric light. Seat yourself so that you can look past the object 
to some other object (B) some distance away. Now alternately 
focus on A and B fifteen to twenty times. Note that A appears 
first as one string and then as two strings. Note the change in 
the strain felt in the eyes. And note also changes in the position 
of your partner's ej^eballs when he is thus focusing back and forth. 

2. Select two books (C and D). Stand book C on end upon 
the table with its side about three feet away (placed at three feet to 
exaggerate the phenomenon) . Stand book D a few inches nearer 
and with its back towards you. Book D now stands more or less 
perpendicular to book C. Now note the difference in the details 
which can be seen of book D as you look at it alternately with the 
right eye and the left eye. Also observe the differences which can 
be seen in book C under the two conditions — book C acting as a 
background for the view of book D. (If you do not discover such 
differences in book C, move your position slightly. Be very care- 
ful not to move the head from side to side as you look alternately 
with one eye and the other.) Note the following points: (a) The 
two views are different; (b) the points on the back of the book 
D are displaced more from right to left than the points of book C; 
(c) the view seen by the two ej^es together is a fusion of what both 
eyes see — not an average of what the two see — and you are not 
conscious of whether you see a detail with one eye or with the 
other (until you have experimented). 

Confirm these points and add any others that are discovered 
through studying these and other objects about the room. Draw 
what is seen with each eye separately when looking at the two 
books. 

3. Carefully note the differences in the details of the two 
photographs which comprise a stereoscopic picture (use, for 
example, Nos. 15, 17, 37, etc., of the Titchener series). Choose 
two points in the picture, one of which is in the very near fore- 
ground and the other far back in the background. Measure 
carefully the distance from these two points to the right hand edge 
of the picture in which they occur. Note whether a near point 
varies more to the right and left in the two photographs than a 
distant point. 



218 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

4. Note slide No. 1. Here are two views composed of two 
dots each. In the right hand view, however, the dots are spaced 
farther apart than in the left hand view. Why, when seen in the 
stereoscope, does one dot appear nearer than the other? Would 
this occur if the spacing between the two dots was the same in the 
two views? 

Results. — Carefully compare your findings in the four experi- 
ments. What relationship do they bear to one another? Answer 
the following questions, after reading over the section in Lesson 
53 on ''Convergence, Divergence and Accommodation:" 

1. How do the differences in what is seen by the two eyes of a 
near object differ from what is seen of a distant object? How do 
the differences in objects in the foreground of two stereoscopic 
pictures differ from the differences in objects in the background? 
Explain. 

2. Is there any relationship between the differences in the views 
of a book as seen by the two eyes and the differences between two 
stereoscopic pictures? Explain. 

3. Is it correct to state that when the two views of an object, as 
recorded on the retina of the two eyes, differ, then those points 
which differ most are seen as nearby while those points which 
differ only a little are seen as far away? Explain your point of 
view. 

Application. — What general relationship is there between the 
results discovered here and learning in general? 

Assignment for Next Class Hour 

1. Write up the above experiment. 

2. Be prepared to discuss Lesson 53 in class. 

3. During the next few days be gathering data on how you are 
able to determine the relative distance of objects, both of which are 
more than 100 feet away. Jot down every clue that comes to 
mind. (The answers to this problem are very simple, so simple 
that most students overlook them in endeavoring to discover some 
profound proposition.) 



LESSON 55 
MECHANISM BY WHICH RESPONSES ARE MADE 

In Lesson 51 a bird's-eye view of the whole physiological 
explanation of behavior was presented. This was expressed 
under three general headings: Stimulation of a sense-organ (the 
stimulus), movement of a muscle or muscles (the response), and 
the connection of sense-organ and muscle (the bond) . In Lessons 
52 and 53 we have studied typical mechanisms by which stimuli 
affect one. We have seen that certain kinds of stimulations arouse 
a sense-organ to activity and that that activity is passed on over 
nerve pathways to the spinal-cord or brain. We now shall 
consider how the response is made to these situations. 

In order to have before us a proper perspective, consider again 
the example given in Plate XLI. There is illustrated the simplest 
possible type of situation and response (reflex action). A pin is 
stuck into the skin. One or more pain and touch spots are 
stimulated. A nervous discharge from the sense-organs proceeds 
over the nervous pathway to the spinal-cord. This current 
then jumps a gap to another nerve-cell along whose fibre it pro- 
ceeds until it reaches the muscle C. This muscle then contracts 
and the arm is pulled away. (Actually, the case is more complex, 
involving more than one muscle and more than one pathway.) 
This example illustrates a complete stimulus-response function- 
ing. The problems before us are: just how does a stimulated 
muscle move a portion of the body, and, second, how does a 
nervous current stimulate the muscle and cause it to react? 

How Does the Contraction of a Muscle Move a Part of the 

Body? 

In Plate XLIV is shown a diagram of the two major muscles of 
the upper arm and their relation to the bones of the arm, forearm, 
and shoulder. The biceps ("4" in the diagram) is attached to the 
shoulder and to the bones of the forearm. In the latter case it is 
attached a short distance beyond the elbow end of the bone. 

219 



220 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The bones of the forearm and upper arm are jointed together 
somewhat after the fashion of a door-hinge. If the biceps should 
contract, it is clear that it would pull the shoulder blade and the 
bones of the forearm. Either the shoulder or the forearm bones 
would have to move. As the shoulder is fastened, the forearm 
has to swing up. The forearm acts like a lever here. 

A slight pull on it at 6, where the biceps is attached to it, 
results in a large movement at the finger ends. In compensation 
for the increase in motion at 12 over that at 7, there is a corre- 
sponding loss in power. Contraction of the biceps results, then, 
in movement of the forearm. 




Plate XLIV. — Motor Mechanism. 1. The humerus. 2. The muscle by 
which the joint is straightened (the triceps). 3. Its insertion. 4. The muscle 
by which the elbow is bent (the biceps). 5. Its origin. 6. Its insertion. When 
the muscle 4 contracts by an amount represented by 7 to 8, the amount of motion 
of the ball will be represented by 9 to 11. There is a loss of power which is com- 
pensated by an increase of motion. (D. J. Hill, The Elements of Psychology^ 
1888, p. 401.) 

Muscles which have to do with movements of the body are 
attached to the bones of the body. They are normally in a state 
of elastic tension. In most cases, they are in pairs, as in the case 
of the forearm. One pulls the arm up, the other down. The 
elastic tension is conducive to a smooth and very prompt move- 
ment. When the biceps is stimulated so as to contract, the triceps 
is stimulated so as to relax, and vice versa. 

How Does the Nervous Current Stimulate the Muscle 
AND Cause It to React? 

Before answering this question, a few facts need to be con- 
sidered concerning the structure of the muscle. There are two 
kinds of muscles: (1) Striated skeletal muscle, and (2) plain 
muscle. Muscles which move the body belong to the first group, 
while muscles which have to do with the blood vessels, alimen- 



55 MECHANISM BY WHICH RESPONSES ARE MADE 221 

tary canal, glands of the body, etc., belong to the second group. 
We shall consider here only the former group. A skeletal 
muscle is made up of many fibers composed of a single cell, 
enclosed in an elastic membrane. When the motor nerve enters 
the muscle, it subdivides and subdivides until there is at least 
one nerve fibril attaching itself to each fibre of the muscle. The 
point of attachment is near the middle of the fibre. This point 
is called a motor end-plate. Returning to our main question 
now, we can see that when a nervous stimulation is transmitted 
from the spinal cord to the muscle it reaches, by way of these 
motor end plates, every fibre in the muscle. The effect of this 
stimulation on the muscle is to produce a chemical change (as 
yet not very well understood) which causes the fibre to contract. 
Consequently, the whole muscle contracts, and its attached bone 
is moved. 

When a muscle contracts, it gives off heat and electrical energy 
and produces work. In other words, the chemical change caused 
by the stimulation of the muscle can be likened to the case of a 
gas-engine, where heat and work result from the combustion of 
gasolene. But the human muscle is a very much more efficient 
engine than a steam or gasolene engine. Only 10 to 15 per cent, 
of the energy contained in coal is converted into work by a steam 
engine, 15 to 25 per cent, of the energy in gasolene in the case of 
a gasolene engine, whereas from 25 to even 40 per cent, is utilized 
in the case of a muscle. The remainder of the stored-up energy 
is wasted mainly in the form of heat. In the case of an engine, 
this is all pure waste, but in the case of the animal, much of this 
heat is utilized in keeping the organism warm. 

Fatigue 

The contraction of the muscle is due to chemical changes. 
As a result of these changes, carbon dioxide gas (CO2), lactic acid 
(CsHeOs), and acid potassium phosphate (KH2PO4) are hberated. 
Glycogen, the form in which digested sugar is stored in the body, 
disappears. Fatigue, which is due to excessive contractions of 
muscles, is chemically the loss of glycogen and the abnormal 
presence of these by-products. As a steam engine will cease to 
run when the coal is exhausted or when the grates are choked 
with ashes, so a muscle becomes fatigued when the glycogen is 



222 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

used up or the muscle is poisoned by the waste products of its 
combustion. 

Whether work is fatiguing or not depends largely upon whether 
the blood can supply glycogen fast enough to supply the working 
muscle and at the same time remove the waste products. The 
faster the muscles are operating, the greater the load upon the 
heart, lungs and blood, and the quicker fatigue will appear. 
Recently, experiments have demonstrated that the establishment 
of short rest periods throughout the working hours tends to lessen 
fatigue and so permit of a greater amount of work being done. 
The wheelbarrow men, mentioned in Lesson 1, who could do 
more work by working twelve minutes and resting three minutes 
in every fifteen minutes, instead of working steadily all day, 
illustrated this fact. Maggiora^ has shown that if 30 contractions 







Platk XLV. — Showing fatigue from work. The height of the successive lines 
shows the amount of work done with each contraction. 



exhaust a muscle so that it needs 2 hours rest in order to do 
equally efficient work again, 15 contractions will require not 1 
hour's rest but only J^^ hour's rest for recuperation. The second 
15 contractions exhaust the muscles, then, very much more than 
did the first 15 contractions. At the same time the amount of 
work accomplished by the last 15 contractions is much less (as 
can be seen from Plate XLV) than that accomplished by the first 
15 contractions. Roughly to illustrate this, suppose the 1st 
contraction does 20 units of work, the 15th contraction 10 units 
and the 30th contraction units. Then the first 15 contractions 
would do (20 + 10) X 15/2, i. e., 225 units of work and the last 
15 contractions would do (10 + 0) X 15/2, i. e., 75 units of work. 
Now if A should do 15 contractions and then rest 30 minutes 
alternately for 8 hours, he could do (16 X 225), i. e., 3,600 units 

^Quoted from J. Goldmark, Fatigue and Efficiency, 1912, p. 33/. 



55 MECHANISM BY WHICH RESPONSES ARE MADE 223 

of work, whereas B, who did 30 contractions and then had to 
stop for 2 hours in order to be rested, could do (4 X (225 + 75)), 
i. e., 1,200 units of work. A so worked that he never became 
particularly fatigued and he only worked while he was doing 
efficient work (i. e., the first 15 contractions). B, on the other 
hand, kept working until exhausted and then had to rest a long 
time. By so working he also did inefficient work. 

The alternation of work and rest periods secures to the worker 
his maximum output since his muscles do not become clogged with 
poisonous waste products and they always are supplied with 
sufficient glycogen. The proper ratio of work and rest depends 
on the type of work to be done. Excessively hard work will 
require relatively more frequent and longer rest periods than 
more moderate work. In cases of light work, it has been found 
advantageous to have the workers work at top speed for an 
interval and then rest, advantageous from the standpoint of 
work accomplished and interest and lack of fatigue on the part of 
the worker. Most individuals become more wearied by the 
monotony of an easy task than by the work itself. Rest periods 
break up this feeling of ennui, especially when during the working 
period the work is done at such a rate as to demand one's full 
attention. 

As so-called mental work seldom calls for a steady, rapid use of 
any set of muscles, the rest-period principle hardly applies to it as 
it does to hard physical labor. A recess period every hour or 
two is probably all that is necessary to rest the large muscles 
which are engaged in surpporting the body while one is reading or 
writing. Experimental studies of fatigue from mental work 
show that the amount of fatigue is very small. For example, 
''Heck^ gave tests to school children at four periods during the 
day— between 9 A. M. and 9:30 A. M., between 11 A. M. and 
11:30 A. M., shortly after 1 P. M., and about 2:30 P. M. It 
appears from this experiment that the amount of work done is 
increased in the later periods, while the accuracy decreased, but 
there does not appear to be any large decrease in efficiency due 
to fatigue. "2 Table XII shows typical results from one school. 

1 W. H. Heck, A Study of Mental Fatigue in Relation to the Daily School 
Program. Psychological Clinic, Vol. 7, 1913-14, p. 29ff, 258ff. 

2 Quotations and Table XII from F. N. Freeman, How Children Learn, 
1917, p. 289. 



224 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 



Table XTI. — The Percentage of Efficiency of School Children 

AT Four Periods, Taking the Performance at the First 

Period as 100 Per Cent. 





Periods 




9:00 A. M. 


11 :00 A.M. 


1:30 P. M. 


2.30 P. M. 


Amount done 

Accuracy 


100 
100 


100.72 
96.69 


103.63 
95.64 


101.10 

96.38 



The real problem in the school-room is not fatigue, but ennui, 
lack of interest. As Thorndike has repeatedly affirmed, children 
have too little to do rather than too much. They are not sup- 
plied with material to keep their minds and bodies busy. Any 
adult who has attempted to play with children knows how 
impossible it is to tire them out. They can keep on the jump 
from morning to night, or build blocks, or paste in a scrap book 
as assiduously as any adult, when they want to. 

Exhaustion. — Fatigue is a perfectly normal -process. It may 
be defined, according to Thorndike, as ''that diminution in 
efficiency which rest will cure."^ Exhaustion, on the other hand, 
is a loss of efficiency which ordinary rest will not cure. In cases 
of exhaustion, not only is the glycogen used up, but also part of 
the muscular structure itself. In consequence, it takes a com- 
paratively long time for one to recover from the effects of exhaust- 
ing work. 

Exhaustion is present in the case of many persons who are 
forced by circumstances to work harder and for longer hours than 
they can really stand. Its elimination is an important industrial 
and social problem. But fear of exhaustion, on the other hand, 
does still more harm, for it prevents men and women from exert- 
ing themselves as they should and robs them of the success they 
might otherwise achieve. Aside from worry, a most fatiguing 
performance, very few of those directing their own activities 
ever exhaust themselves. It is normal to go to bed fatigued. 
Sufficient sleep should cure fatigue and fit us for another strenu- 
ous day. 

^ E. L. Thorndike, Educational Psychology, Vol. Ill, 1914, p. 112. 



55 MECHANISM BY WHICH RESPONSES ARE MADE 225 

What is a Response? 

The term ''response" has meant so far all those details of an 
individual's action which result from some situation affecting 
him. It is well now to consider the term in greater detail. A 
response consists of movements of muscles. But the muscles 
may be those that (a) move parts of the body, as the arm, leg, 
head, etc., or (b) affect the internal organs, as the heart, the 
stomach, the various glands, etc. The first type we are all more 
or less familiar with, since we are continually and consciously 
making such movements and are observing them in others. The 
second type we are not conscious of ordinarily. But they play 
an equally important part in our life. In the quotation in Lesson 
1 from ''Wednesday Madness," we read "Sam started violently" 
in response to Penrod's "Sam-my and May-bul." And "Mabel 
ceased to swing her foot, and both, encarnadined, looked up." 
The "starting violently" and becoming "encarnadined" are 
evidences we may note in another of emotional excitement — a 
term covering movements of the inner organs. And these 
responses are more significant in this case than "ceasing to 
swing her foot" and "looking up." 

A response may consist, further, in a train of thought, in the 
formulation of a decision, or in an attitude. The latter we saw 
clearly in the mirror-drawing experiment, where some assumed 
a self-attentive attitude and others did not. But such purely 
"mental" responses are accompanied by muscular movements, 
although they may at times be very slight or seemingly of no 
connection with the mental processes. One only has to watch 
carefully a person who pretends to be contemptuous of one's 
teasing to discover slight twitchings at the corner of the mouth, or 
tapping with the foot, etc. — all signs that the teasing is being 
reacted to. 

When one suddenly comes upon a covey of young quail, there 
is immediately a tremendous fluttering in the brush and then an 
absolute quiet. The young birds have reacted to the situation of 
a man's presence by running to cover and then remaining 
absolutely still. The lack of movement is as much a part of the 
response as the scurrying to cover. Here is inhibition of move- 
ment as a type of response. 
In every-day life we are much more likely to overlook responses 

15 



226 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

to a situation which cause lack of bodily movement than of re- 
sponses where the individual does something. Sometimes the 
absence of movement, when ordinarily movement is to be 
expected, is just the response to be noted. For example, candy 
having disappeared from a table drawer, three children are sud- 
denly confronted with the question, ''Who took the candy?" 
Two chorus out ''Not me! What candy?" The third, after ten 
seconds, in a more subdued voice, responds "Not me." The 
temporarily inhibited reply and the entire absence of interest in 
"what candy" clearly prove the presence of important elements 
in the situation to which the third child is responding that are 
absent in the case of the other two. 

The response is the sum total of the behavior brought about 
by a situation affecting an individual. It includes movements 
produced by the large muscles of the body or of the small muscles 
within the body, and the total of consciousness involved therein. 

REFERENCES 

W. H. Howell, A Text-hook of Physiology, 1907, Chaps. I and II. 
Ladd and Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, p. 536ff. 
P. G. Stiles, The Nervous System and Its Conservation, 1914. 



W 



LESSON 56 
HOW DOES ONE ESTIMATE DISTANCE? (continued) 

In Lesson 54 we discovered that the visual impressions received 
by the tv/o eyes are not identical. And the same fact was dis- 
covered concerning two stereoscopic pictures. Moreover, we 
ascertained that there was a greater difference between those 
details of stereoscopic pictures which were in the foreground than 
between those in the background. Depth or perspective is 
clearly added to a picture when two views thus constructed are 
seen together. How is this accomplished? 

The two eyes must rotate more (converge) when fixated on a 
near object than on a distant object. From experience, we have 
learned when we fixate on a string attached to a window curtain 
that (a) it is this string (not some other object) and (b) it is 
about so far from us. The object aspect of the response is due 
to stimulation of the retina by waves of light from the string, 
which in turn transmits a stimulation over the optic nerve to the 
brain. The distance aspect is due to the kinaesthetic sense-organs 
in the muscles that rotate the eye in order to fixate it on the 
string. They are stimulated to a certain extent and this stimu- 
lation is transmitted over nerve fibres to the brain. There 
these particular stimulations cause us quite unconsciously to 
add to the object-aspect the idea of the string being located so 
far from us. The total perception — string so far from us — is a 
fusion, then, of visual and kiniesthetic stimulations. 

Photographs taken for a stereoscope are taken by two cameras 
placed side by side but somewhat farther apart than the distance 
between the two eyes. The photographs over-emphasize the 
difference in the two views as seen by the two eyes. When using 
a stereoscope, one must converge his eyes more in order to have 
both eyes fixated on near objects than on distant objects in the 
two pictures. Consequently, we think of them as nearer because 
always in life when we have to converge our eyes upon an object 
it is nearer than an object which requires less convergence. 

227 



228 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

The above is the explanation of how in binocular vision we deter- 
mine distances up to 100 feet. At 100 feet the eyes are both 
fixated straight ahead. Consequently there can be no greater 
divergence for objects beyond this distance than for 100 feet and, 
accordingly, we can not estimate distances beyond this distance 
on the basis of convergence and divergence. 

Now how do we estimate distance up to 6 feet with monocular 
vision, and, second, how do we estimate distance beyond 100 
feet? It is perfectly apparent that we can do both these things. 

Experiment 

Problem. — What are the Factors Underlying the Perception 
of Distance? (Continued.) 
Apparatus. — Three pins. 
Procedure : 

1. Have S close one eye and then have him note the changes 
that occur in the appearance of a pencil and the resulting sensa- 
tions in the eye as E moves a pencil towards and away from the 
eye within the limits of an inch and six feet. Is S ever at a loss 
to know just how far the pencil is from him? 

2. In order to determine how accurate is S's ability to esti- 
mate relative distances, stick two pins into the far end of a table, 
say six feet from S. The line of the two pins should be perpendic- 
ular to S's line of vision. Now place the third pin between the 
other two sometimes in front of them and sometimes behind them 
and ascertain how accurately S can determine the relative dis- 
tance of the middle pin as compared with the two outside pins. 
When this has been done, repeat the experiment, S using only one 
eye. (Make sure there are no shadows cast by the pins.) 

Just as a camera has to be adjusted for focusing on near and 
distant objects, so the lens of the eye has to be correspondingly 
adjusted. As has been pointed out in Lesson 53, these adjust- 
ments are made by contractions or relaxations of the ciliary 
muscle which is attached to the lens. Located in and about the 
ciliary muscle are kinsesthetic sense-organs. Ordinarily we are 
unconscious of the sensations aroused by these sense-organs. 
But when the pencil is brought close to the eye, the strain in the 
ciliary muscle, in order to secure a clear focus, is so unusual that 
we notice it. Although we are not ordinarily conscious of the 



56 HOW DOES ONE ESTIMATE DISTANCE? 229 

kinsesthetic sensations caused by movements in the ciliary- 
muscles, yet we act in terms of them. That is, through experience 
we have learned that when the eyes are focused on a very near 
object, the ciliary muscle is under a certain strain, whereas when 
the object is farther away this strain is different. Consequently 
when confronted by an object, the first reaction is to focus it on 
the retina (a reflex act unconsciously done). We then receive 
(a) visual stimulations from the object which give us our knowl- 
edge of the object and (b) kinsesthetic stimulations from the 
ciliary muscle which give us our knowledge of the distance of the 
object from the eye. Rather the two — visual and kinsesthetic — 
sensations fuse together and we perceive such and such an object 
at such and such a distance. The above mechanism is an aid to 
us in estimating short distances say of six feet and less. 

3. Can an individual blind in one eye utilize the factors 
involved in binocular vision in estimating distance? Recall the 
details discovered in Lesson 54, part 2, with the books C and D. 
Note also in the same way, but with one eye, the differences in the 
view of book D obtained by swinging the head from side to side. 

Repeat the above procedure, but, instead of moving the head 
from side to side, walk from your window to the next and note 
such changes as may occur in the view of objects at a considerable 
distance from you. 

4. Finish up your study of the other factors involved in the 
estimation of the distance of objects over 100 feet away. 

Results. — Report your results in the best way you know in 
order to bring out the principal points of the experiment. 

Questions. — 1. In what way does one estimate distances up 
to six feet? 

2. In what way does one estimate distances of from 6 to 100 
feet? 

3. In what way does one estimate distances over 100 feet? 
Consider also the following questions in this connection: 

(a) If one did not know the size of an object, say a low hill, 
would that affect his estimation of its distance? Why? Explain. 

(6) Is the same distance estimated differently on a foggy day 
from what it is on a clear one? Why do Easterners underesti- 
mate distance in Colorado? 

(c) Do differences in color affect the estimation of distance? 
How? Why? 



230 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

(d) Which is easier to estimate the distance of, (a) a man walk- 
ing along a road, (b) an auto, (c) a train along a railroad track, or 
(d) an aeroplane in the air? Why? How is the estimation 
made? 

(e) What part can a shadow play in the estimation of distance? 
Application. — 

Hand in your report at the next class-hour. 

REFERENCES 

G. M. Stratton, Experimental Psychology and Culture, 1903, Chapters VII, 
VIII. 

W. B. Pillsbury, Attention, 1908, Chapter V. 

J. R. Angell, Psychology, 1908, pp. 172-190. 

E. B. Titchener, Experimental Psychology, Qualitative, Student's Manual, 
1909, pp. 137-151. 

E. B. Titchener, Experimental Psychology, Qualitative, Instructor's 
Manual, 1909, pp. 228-303. 

W. B. Pillsbury, Essentials of Psychology, 1911, pp. 162-171. 

G. T. Ladd and R. S. Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, pp. 
413-431. 

(It is not necessary, nor is it expected of students, to consult these refer- 
ences in writing up the experiment. They are listed here for the use of 
any who are interested and wish to devote extra time to the subject.) 



I 



LESSON 57 
MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 

We now have a fair conception of how a sense-organ is stimu- 
lated into activity by outside agencies. We also realize that when 
a muscle or a group of muscles is stimulated, it contracts and 
moves a portion of the body. And, from the illustrations given 
in Plates XLI and XLII, we have obtained a general notion as 
to how the stimulation received in the sense-organ is finally 
transmitted to the muscles and they in turn react. In those three 
examples we have cases in which the current flows from the skin 
to the muscle (a) by way of the spinal cord, (b) by way of the 
mid-brain, and (c) by way of the cortex of the brain. About 
these three examples we can build a great deal of the total concep- 
tion that is necessary in understanding the connecting system. 

The first three points to get clear in understanding the nervous 
system are: First, sense-organs are connected with muscles by way 
of a central station in the spinal cord, mid-brain, or cerebrum. 
Second, the nervous system is made up of these three centrals together 
with nerve-fibers running to the sense-organs and to the muscles of 
the body. Third, the function of the nervous system is to connect 
sense-organs with muscles. 

In order to obtain a clearer, more accurate conception of the 
connections which are made possible by the nervous system, it 
will be necessary to obtain a better idea of the anatomy of the 
nervous system. 

The nervous system can be roughly divided into four parts: 
(1) the spinal cord, (2) the mid-brain, (3) the cerebrum, and (4) 
the nerves that connect these parts with sense-organs and 
muscles. All of these four parts are composed of something 
hke 11,000,000,000 nerve-cells combined in various ways. 

The Neurone 

In Plate XL VI are shown six different nerve-cells or neurones 
as they are more often called. At first glance they do not look 
much alike. A closer study will show that they all have certain 

231 



232 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

characteristics in common. Each nerve-cell has (1) a cell-body 
and (2) certain projections from the cell-body called filaments. 
The cell-body is composed of protoplasm and has a nucleus. The 
filaments can be divided into two kinds: the axon and the den- 
drites. A nerve-cell has one axon but it may have many den- 
drites. The axon can be likened to a cable of telephone wires. 
It is made up of many fibrils similar possibly to the separate wires 




Plate XL VI. — A, cell from the spinal ganglion; B, cell from the ventral horn 
of spinal cord; C, cell from the sympathetic, D, cell from the spinal cord; E, 
pyramidal cell from the cerebral cortex; F, cell from the cerebellar cortex; a, 
axones; d, dendrites; c, collaterals; p, peripheral part of the fibre; cl, central part. 
Arrows indicate the direction of conduction for nervous impulses. (Modified 
from Morris and from Toldt.) (From J. R. Angell, Psychology, 1909, Figure 2.) 

in the cable. Around these are one or two sheaths, possibly of 
an insulating character but more probably for the purpose of 
supporting and nourishing the fibril core. Axons may be infinite- 
simally short or up to five feet in length in man. Ordinarily 
they have few subdivisions. A bundle of such axons make up a 
nerve. The other type of filament, the dendrite, is usually quite 
short and much branched, often suggesting a bush. 



57 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 233 

The neurone has certain characteristics in common with all 
living cells. It is irritable, by which is meant that it responds 
to certain stimulations. It possesses conductivity, by which is 
meant that a stimulation at one point of its body is transmitted 
to any other part of its body. Besides these two, it probably has 
also the function of either reinforcing or inhibiting the impulse 
communicated to it. To illustrate the reinforcing function, 
consider the fact that a relatively slight pull on the trigger of a 
gun will produce a relatively great response. The stored-up 
energy in the cartridge is set off at the slight impact. In some- 
what the same way a nerve-cell may be only slightly stimulated 
but it may respond in such a way as to stimulate very much more 
strongly the next cell in the series. The neurone as a whole then 
receives and transmits stimulations and in doing so may increase 
or decrease the intensity of the stimulation. 

Turning now to the functions of the various parts of the 
neurone, we must note that ^Hhe cell-body has the highly impor- 
tant function of serving the nutrition of the whole neurone; it is 
necessary for maintaining the axon and dendrites in proper 
condition for work, even though it 'may take no peculiar part in 
the actual doing of the work."^ 

The axon carries impulses away from the cell-body, while the 
dendrites receive impulses from without and transmit the stimu- 
lation toward the axon. In thinking of the neurone as a link 
in the chain connecting a sense-organ and muscle, we must always 
think of the current first stimulating the end of a dendrite and of 
it then being transmitted over the dendrite to the axon and out 
the axon. The nervous current never flows in the reverse 
direction. 2 

The Synapse 

The synapse is the point of contact between an axon and a 
dendrite. It is still a debated question whether there is actually 
a gap between the axon and dendrite or not, but it is certain that 
as far as their function is concerned we may speak of the synapse 
as a functional gap. From physics we know that a weak electri- 

1 Ladd and Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, p. 288. 

2 The above is true except in the case of the sensory neurones connecting 
sense-organs with the spinal cord. Here the axon on leaving the cell-body 
divides and one branch goes to the sense-organ and the other into the spinal 
cord. 



234 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

cal current will jump across a small gap in the form of a series of 
small sparks, but it will not jump a large gap. If the strength 
of the current is increased, the current will again jump a larger 
gap in a series of larger sparks. The smaller the gap, then, the 
less the resistance and consequently the smaller the current 
needed to jump the gap. This conception was early applied to 
the synapse. It was supposed that the dendrite and axon 
actually moved toward or away from each other and in doing 
so decreased or increased the resistance to the nervous current. 
This physical conception has been discarded and in its place is 
now a chemical one. Due to chemical changes in the dendrite 
and axon, the resistance is changed. 

It is a well-attested fact that the nervous current flows over an 
axon at about the rate of 100 feet per second, or approximately an 
inch in 0.0008 second. But it requires 0.004 second for the 
current to cross a synapse, an extremely short distance. This 
rate across a synapse is, moreover, for a well used synapse. It 
is quite likely that the rate is much slower for a little used 
synapse.^ 

Modern psychology makes much of the synapse with its great 
resistance to the passage of the nerve impulse, together with its 
changing resistance, in explaining the formation of habits. A 
habit or memory is today conceived of as due primarily to the 
chemical change in the synapse whereby the resistance is lowered, 
thus permitting the nervous current to flow in this particular 
direction rather than in some other direction. (Review here 
the discussion in Lesson 13 under the heading ''Physiological 
Basis for Retention.") 

Functioning of the Nervous System 

By this time it should be clear that all kinds of behavior are 
essentially composed of one or more sense-organs and one or 
more muscles, with their connecting neurones. In some cases the 
sensory neurone directly stimulates the motor neurone, in other 
cases many neurones are interposed between the two. We may 
divide up all action of man on the basis of these interposing 
neurones. We have already spoken of the three levels: 

^ A. T. Poffenberger, Reaction Time to Retinal Stimulation, Archives of 
Psychology, 1912, Chap. VIL 



57 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 235 

1. Connection through the spinal cord, 

2. Connection through the mid-brain. 

3. Connection through the cerebrum. 

The three levels differ primarily in the directness with which the 
transfer is made. The higher paths permit more connections and 
make possible the cooperation of a greater number of sensory- 
impulses in the control of movement. 

The Lower Level — Spinal Level, {See Plates XLI and XLII). 
An essential trait of the lower level has already been repeatedly 
pointed out, i. e., a direct stimulation from the sense-organ results 
in an immediate response by an appropriate muscle. Examples 




Plate XL VII. — Showing how a sensory neurone (S) may be connected directly 
with various motor neurones (M) or indirectly by means of connecting or inter- 
mediate neurones (C). From J. D. Lickley, The Nervous System, 1912, p. 40. 

of such reflexes are: jerking the hand away from a hot stove, and 
withdrawing the part from tickling. In reflexes we have the 
proper action, resulting because our nervous system has been 
developed through ages of experience to act this way. 

Thus far we have considered the simplest form of reflex act, 
due to the union of one sensory neurone and one motor neurone. 
But we may have reflexes in the spinal cord where a few or many 
connecting neurones intervene between the sensory and motor 
neurones. If the brain of a frog is destroyed all the customary 
reflexes may be called out by appropriate stimuli. If a bit of 
paper moistened with acid be placed upon the left foot of a frog 
(1) the leg will be drawn up — a simple reflex. If now the foot be 
held so that it cannot be moved, it will be found that (2) the 
other foot is brought over to remove the stimulus. If this is not 



236 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

successful, (3) the muscles of the forelegs and trunk will contract 
and the contractions will continue until the stimulus is removed 
or the organism becomes exhausted. (The same phenomena 
can be obtained through tickling a person who is asleep.) 
What has happened in all these cases? In Plate XLVII is shown 
very roughly the organization of the neurones involved in such 
cases. In the first case the current travels from S (the sensory 
neurone) to M, a motor neurone. With continued stimulation 
received via S more and more motor neurones are brought into 
play, as M2, M3, M4, M5, etc. What is much more likely to 
happen is depicted in the right hand part of the Plate where an 
intermediate or connecting neurone (C) is included. Here the 
current travels from S to C and then to Mi, or M2, M3, etc. 

Now why have there been these changes in response? We 
must suppose that continued stimulations result in an increase 
in the nervous current which is generated. With a slight 
amount of current the flow is over the most usual pathway 
because of less resistance at the synapse. When that pathway is 
blocked, the next easiest pathway is used. And with greater and 
greater amounts of nervous current coming in over the sensory 
fibre, greater and greater resistance can be overcome, resulting in 
more and more widely separated motor cells being stimulated — 
hence in'^more and more extended muscular contractions. 
(Review at this point the conception of ''overflow of energy" 
given in Lesson 9 and ''defensive type of self-assertion" in 
Lesson 34.) 

The Intermediate Level — Mid-Brain Level. — The mid-brain, 
or brain-stem, is the upper end of the spinal cord. In this 
elementary course it is impossible to consider the parts of the 
mid-brain separately, and so all of them will be considered 
together. Their functions are very complex, but after all they 
may be reduced to the same ones which appear in the spinal cord, 
i. e., connecting sense-organs with muscles, and more particularly 
connecting impressions from many sense-organs together so as to 
have the most appropriate muscular response to all the sense- 
organ impressions. The functions of the mid-brain are first, 
to serve as reflex centers by which the sense-organs of the head 
may be connected with the muscles of the head. To illus- 
trate, note these examples. According to the amount of light 
striking the eye, the pupil is wide open or shut. These move- 



57 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 237 

ments of the pupil result from stimulations from the retina 
going to the mid-brain and back again to the muscles governing 
the pupil. In the same way most of the movements of the eyes 
are governed from the mid-brain. The medulla, a part of the 
mid-brain, receives organic stimulations from the various parts 
of the body and in turn stimulates the muscles of the heart, 
blood-vessels, etc., so as to control the rate and force of the 
heart-beat, the diameter of the blood-vessels, etc. A second 
function of the mid-brain is to connect the special sense-organs of 
the head with the motor neurones of the spinal cord, and so with 
the muscles of the trunk and limbs. For example: Putting the 
hand up to protect the face, jumping at a loud noise, kicking 
backward as the result of a blow on the head from behind. 
Third, the mid-brain connects the cortex with sense-organs and 
with muscles. It is probable that all the sense-organs excepting 
smell, are represented in the mid-brain by neurones, and that in 
every case the impulse from a sense-organ is relayed from neurone 
to neurone in various ganglia in the mid-brain. The mechanism 
of the reflexes in this level is then the same as in the lower level. 
The only difference is that the causes of excitation are more 
numerous and the possibilities of connection are greater. 

REFERENCES 

W. H. Howell, Text-hook of Physiology, 1907, Chaps. HI, VII to XI. 
W. McDougall, Physiological Psychology, 1908. 
J. R. Angell, Psychology, 1909, Chap. II. 

G. T. Ladd & R. S. Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, Chaps. I 
to VII, IX, X. 

W. B. Pillsbury, Essentials of Psychology, 1911, Chap. II. 

J. D. Lickley, The Nervous System, 1912. 

P. G. Stiles, The Nervous System and its Conservation, 1914. 



LESSON 58 

MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 

(continued) 

The Cerebellum 

See Cb of Plate XL VIII, and the smaller body just above 
TA in Plate XLIX for the location of the cerebellum. The 
cerebellum belongs to the mid-brain level from its position, but 
because of its cortical structure it may be considered here. It is 
very richly connected by neurones with the lower centers and 
with the cerebrum. But we know very little about its functions. 
It seems, however, to be agreed that its functions are most 
intimately related to the reception and coordination of the 
sensory stimulations which originate within the body itself, e. g., 
in the muscles, the viscera, the semi-circular canals of the ear, 
etc. It is thus conspicuously involved in such actions as those 
by which we preserve our equilibrium and in general succeed in 
carrying forward well coordinated and balanced movements, 
like walking, sitting, and standing. 

The Cerebrum 

Many stimulations from sense-organs are relayed in to the 
cerebrum, are there combined into an organized whole and then 
relayed out to the muscles resulting in coordinated movements 
in harmony with the stimulations received by the sense-organs. 
The activity may be likened to the army organization. Infor- 
mation is obtained by the soldiers and lower officers while on 
scouting duty. This information is transmitted up through the 
various officers until it finally reaches the commanding officers. 
These officers, in turn, transmit orders back down through the 
various officers until finally the soldiers execute them. A general 
ordinarily neither receives information from a private nor gives 
him commands. So with the brain, it never receives stimulations 
directly from the sense-organs (excepting smell) nor directly 

238 



57 



MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 



239 



stimulates muscles to move. The lower and intermediate levels 
of activity stand in between. Consider another illustration. 
The problem 673 X 48 is given one to solve. Light waves from 
the paper containing the problem strike the retina. The physical 
stimulation is changed into a physiological process which is 




Plate XLVIII. — The figure at the left shows the general relations of the 
central nervous system to the bones of the skull and spine. The figure at the 
right displays the general contours of the central system as seen from in front. 
The great ganglionated cord of the sympathetic system is shown attached to one 
side of the spinal nerves; the other side has been cut away.. (Cer) the cerebral 
hemispheres; (O) the olfactory centers; (P) the pons Varolii; (M) the medulla 
oblongata; (Cb) the cerebellum; (Sp. C) the spinal cord; (I) the olfactory nerve ; 
(II) the optic nerve; (III) the oculo-motor nerve; (IV) the trochlear nerve; (V) 
the trigeminus nerve; (VI) abducens nerve; (VII) the facial nerve; (VIII) the 
auditory nerve: (IX) glossopharyngeal nerve; (X) the vagus nerve; (XI) spinal 
accessory; (XII) the hypoglossal nerve; (C) the first cervical spinal nerve; (DI) 
the first dorsal, or thoracic nerve; (LI) the first lumbar nerve; (SI) the first sacral 
nerve; (XI) filum terminale; (CSI) superior cervical ganglion of the sympathetic; 
(CS2) middle cervical ganglion of the sympathetic; (CS3) and (DSl) junction of 
the inferior cervical and the first dorsal ganglion of the sympathetic; (DSII^ the 
eleventh dorsal ganglion of the sympathetic; (LSI) the first lumbar ganglion of 
the same system; (SSI) the first sacral ganglion also of the sympathetic. From 
J. R. Angell ''Psychology;' 1909. (Figures 12 and 13.) 

transmitted over the optic nerve to the mid-brain. Here part 
of the stimulation is directed to muscles controlHng the eye and 



240 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

head and they so move as to permit one to see the problem in the 
best Hght, etc. The remainder of the stimulation is relayed to 
the cortex of the brain. Due to long established habits the 
stimulation is then sent from the cortex back through the mid- 




Plate XLIX. — "Localization of Cerebral Function. The lower figure shows 
the outer surface of the right hemisphere; the upper, the mesial surface of the left 
hemisphere. In both figures the motor areas are marked by horizontal shading, 
the sensory by vertical shading, while the associatory areas are unshaded. The 
doubtful or partially sensory or motor areas are indicated by dots. (S) is oppo- 
site the fissure of Sylvius; (R) above the fissure of Rolando. (M) is above the 
motor region; (C) above the cutaneous and kin aesthetic area. (V) indicates the 
visual region; (O) is below the olfactory region. The auditory region is just be- 
low the fissure of Sylvius, above (H). (FA) designates the frontal, (PA) parietal, 
and (TA) the temporal association centers. There is some evidence that the dotted 
regions about the sensory and motor areas are areas in which particular associa- 
tions are formed with them. The diagram embodies the results of A. W. Camp- 
bell, but has been modified in one or two respects to agree with the results of 
Flechsig and Gushing." (From W. B. Pillsbury, ''The Essential of Psychology, 
1911, Figure 7, published by the Macmillan Company.) 

brain down the spinal cord and to muscles of the arm and one finds 
himself reaching for pencil and paper and solving the problem. 



68 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 241 

It is probable that only connections made in the cerebrum are 
conscious. That is, consciousness accompanies only cortical 
activity. 

The cerebrum is composed of two hemispheres joined together 
by what is called the corpus callosum. This is shown in Plate 
XLIX as a sort of crescent shaped area in the center of the upper 
illustration. This represents the cut-end of the callosum as it 
must need be severed in order to show the inner surface of one 
of the hemispheres.. It is made up of fibers which connect one 
hemisphere with the other. Two landmarks need to be pointed 
out, the fissure of Rolando and the fissure of Sylvius. The former 
is marked by the letter R in the plate and the latter by the 
letter S. 

Recent study of the brain has shown that certain areas of the 
cerebrum are concerned with certain functions, some being prim- 
arily concerned in receiving stimulations from the sense-organs 
and others in controlling movements in the body. 

Sensory Areas. — (1) Cutaneous sensations are localized just 
back of the fissure of Rolando (marked by a C in the plate). 
Stimulations from the leg are localized at the top of this area and 
over on the inside surface, stimulations from the trunk are local- 
ized further down toward the fissure of Sylvius, and stimulations 
from the head at the lower end of the area not far from this fissure. 
Destruction of this sensory area does not affect all varieties of 
cutaneous sensations equally. ''The pain sense is little or not 
at all affected, except temporarily; the sense of pressure and con- 
tact is considerably more diminished; the temperature sense is 
so much reduced that only extremes of heat and cold are per- 
ceived; the muscular sense is almost entirely destroyed; and the 
perception of form, size, location, etc., by use of the hand is 
usually abolished.''^ 

2. Visual sensations are localized in the occipital region of the 
cerebrum, marked by a "V" in the plate. ^'It would appear 
likely that the retinas are projected, point for point, though 
perhaps not quite so minutely as this, upon the visual cortex. "^ 
Injuries to certain parts of the visual area produce blindness as 
related to corresponding parts of the retina. We may speak of 
two types of localization here : one which deals with the recep- 
tion of the simple stimulations received from the eye — corre- 

^Ladd and Woodworth, Physiological Psychology, 1911, p. 245. 
2 Ladd and Woodworth, op. cit., p. 248. 
16 



242 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

spending to awareness of brightness or color, and the other which 
deals with the interpretation of these simple stimulations going 
to make up definite objects, as yellow square, a house, or what 
not. Injuries to the more outlying parts of the visual area 
result in loss of ability to recognize objects, or to read, or to utiHze 
vision for purposes of orientation. In such cases the patient can 
still see, but has lost some of the uses of sight. Such cases are 
referred to as psychic blindness. 

3. Auditory sensations are localized below the fissure of 
Sylvius, and appear a little above where the H occurs in the plate. 
Injuries to this area, as in the case of the visual area, produce 
total deafness or psychic deafness. The latter is illustrated by 
such cases as inability to understand spoken words, or to 
apprehend melodies. 

4. Olfactory and taste sensations are located in a great loop 
about the corpus callosum. 

The Motor Area. — Voluntary control of muscles of the body is 
located in an area just across the fissure of Rolando from the 
cutaneous sensation area. And here again as in the case of that 
area, the legs are represented by the upper part of this area, the 
body next, the arms next, and the head at the lower end. In this 
area are the largest nerve-cells in the body. Their axons descend 
through the mid-brain and spinal cord and there come in contact 
with the dendrites of other motor cells. Axons from the latter 
proceed out to the muscles of the body. 

In paralysis we have a condition in which the motor connection 
with the muscle has been destroyed. If the injury is in the 
motor-cells of the cerebrum the paralysis relates only to volun- 
tary movements, while reflexes of the spinal and mid-brain level 
are not ordinarily affected. If the injury is in the spinal cord 
but above the motor-cells in the cord then the mid-brain reflexes 
are destroyed as well as all habitual movements. If finally the 
injury is in the motor-cells of the spinal cord then there results 
complete paralysis of the muscles of the body controlled from 
that part of the spinal cord. 

Another type of paralysis is due not to a destruction of the 
motor connections but to a destruction of the sensory side of the 
arc. This type is found, for example, in tabes dorsalis. The 
incoming kinsesthetic sensations are largely eliminated because 
the sensory connections are destroyed. Walking is seriously 



58 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 243 

interfered with because one cannot sense just where his leg is at 
any moment. Through training such individuals may be 
taught to guide their movements not as they have done in the 
past in terms mainly of kinesthetic stimulations but in terms of 
visual stimulations. In this way they are able to walk with little 
suggestion of ''drunkenness." 

The Parietal Lobes (marked PA in the Plate) are situated 
between the cutaneous sensation area and the visual area. 
Injuries to these lobes are distinguished by disturbances in 
ability to connect ideas and sensations with their proper compan- 
ions. For example, a file touched in the dark does not call up the 
idea of a file as seen. In other words, things seen are not con- 
nected up with their auditory or tactual appearance and hence 
are improperly understood and interpreted. 

Frontal Lobes. — Injuries to the frontal lobes seem to be 
marked by ''disorders of attention," concentration, and the 
higher mental and emotional capacities. "An addiction to 
practical jokes of a weak order, with lack of respect for property 
or the rights of others has been frequently observed. On the 
other hand, in some remarkable cases of destruction of large 
parts of the frontal lobe, no marked symptoms whatever have 
appeared." This is true more particularly of the right frontal 
lobe than of the left. Franz first taught a cat and monkey a 
trick, then removed parts of the frontal lobe. In general the 
trick was no longer known. Injury to only part of the lobe 
resulted in simply slowing down the time of performance. Franz 
concludes that "the frontal lobes are concerned in the acquisition 
of new performances, but that no one spot is indispensable for 
the acquisition of a particular act; and that long continued prac- 
tice in a performance reduces it to an automatic or semi-reflex 
condition, in which the frontal lobes are no longer necessary. "^ 

Association Centers. — A rather small portion of the surface of 
the cortex is thus far accounted for. How shall we explain the 
function of the remainder of the brain's surface? The best 
authorities would explain the function of this remainder as one of 
association, or of connection. By this is meant that here the 
stimulations from the various sense-organs are combined together, 
thus affording responses which are appropriate to the whole 
sensory stimulation. 

^Ladd and Woodworth, op. cit., p. 202-63. 



244 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

For example, the reflex act would be to drop a flat-iron, if the 
handle were too hot. But if there were a kitten on the floor at 
one's feet the resulting action would be to throw the iron into a 
corner or to hold on to it until safely replaced on the stove. In 
the second case the reflex act is prevented by the visual stimu- 
lation — the sight of the kitten. In such a case the cerebral 
cortex was directing the movement of carrying the hot iron. 
The reflex act of dropping was inhibited (when the iron was put 
back on the stove) or directed into a new movement (throwing 
the iron) by the stimulation coming from the eye. The associ- 
ation centers are supposed to be responsible for such coordinated 
action. 

Before leaving this subject attention should be called to the 
fact that the four phases of knowledge of a language are generally 
considered to be located in four different parts of the cerebrum. 
Ability to read is localized in the visual area, ability to under- 
stand spoken words is localized in the auditory area, ability to 
speak is localized in the motor area near the center governing 
muscles of the head, and ability to write is localized in the motor 
area near the center governing arm movements. It is then 
possible through a particular brain injury to lose the ability to 
read but still to understand what another says, or to speak one- 
self and, what is even more surprising, to be able to write, 
although, of course, unable to read what one has written. The 
teaching of English, for example, must consequently be viewed as 
the development of four groups of habits, instead of one. It is 
not enough to train a student to write good English ; he must also 
be trained specifically to speak good English. There is no doubt 
that training in one of these four groups aids in the other three. 
But too much reliance has been placed upon this in the past. 
Since it is a fact that the brighter the child the greater will be 
this transfer, and the duller the child the less the transfer, 
teachers should deliberately aim to develop all four groups for 
the sake of the dull child. 

Fundamental and Accessory Systems 

Another method of grouping the compUcated functions of the 
nervous system is to refer to them under the two headings — 
fundamental system and accessory system. These terms are 



58 MECHANISM OF THE CONNECTING SYSTEM 245 

used so frequently it is desirable to become familiar with them in 
this course. 

''The nerve-centers of vertebrates may be considered as 
consisting of (1) a fundamental system, comprising the spinal cord 
and brain-stem, and (2) accessory organs developed as outgrowths 
of the brain stem, the chief of these being the cerebellum and 
cerebrum. (See Plate XL VIII.) The development of the 
accessory structures is very unequal in different forms of verte- 
brate animals : the size of the cerebellum being closely related to 
the animal's powers of locomotion, and the size of the cerebrum 
with his powers of learning new and specific adaptations. The 
fundamental system is, on the other hand, fairly constant 
throughout the vertebrate series. This is especially true of the 
spinal cord, the size of which seems to depend almost wholly on 
the size of the animal."^ 

The fundamental system consists of: (1) Sensory ganglia which 
lie just outside the spinal cord. (In Plate XLI of Lesson 51 one 
sensory neurone is shown extending from the skin at B into the 
spinal cord at L. Its nerve-cell is at K. A cluster of such nerve- 
cells is called a ganglia.) From these ganglia fibers extend out 
to the sense-organs of the body on the one hand and into the 
spinal-cord on the other. It is in this way that the sense-organs 
are connected with the spinal cord, with the single exception of 
the sense of smell. Here the sense-organs send out their own 
fibres which extend into the brain. (2) Motor-cells, which lie 
within the spinal-cord, branches of which pass out to the muscles. 
(3) Central-cells, whose branches do not extend to sense-organs or 
muscles, but which run up or down or across in the spinal-cord 
and so bring all the different parts into connection. Most of 
these fibres are short, but there are some sets of long ones, which 
connect the spinal-cord directly with the mid-brain. The use- 
fulness of these connecting fibres can be readily appreciated as by 
means of them the impressions from all the sense-organs may be 
combined and thus movements may result which are in harmony 
with the information received from eye, ear, nose, etc. 

The accessory system is composed principally of the cerebellum 
and cerebrum. In terms of evolution, these are recent additions 
to the nervous system, as contrasted with the elements making 
up the fundamental system. The functions of these two organs 

^Ladd and Woodworth, op. cit., p. 26. 



246 INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHERS 

has already been discussed. In addition, the accessory system is 
characterized by long nerve fibres which connect the cerebrum 
more directly with lower centers. These nerve fibres are spoken 
of as ''long" in contrast with the short interconnections of the 
fundamental system. But the accessory system, as already 
pointed out, never receives stimulations from sense-organs 
(excepting smell) nor transmits stimulations on to the muscles 
except by the way of the fundamental system. 



INDEX 

(Bold-face numbers refer to Book Two) 



Accessory system, 244f 

Accomodation, 209 

Accuracy vs. speed, 45fif, 62f, 162ff 

Acquire, want to, 21f 

Active, want to be, 18f 

Adrenalin, 25f 

Advertisement, analysis of, llOff 

Alexander, C, 40, 229 

Alexia, 141 

Alphabet, learning of, 9f, 29ff, 33ff 

Ambition, 46 

Analogy, law of, 94, 114 

Angell, J. R., 206, 239 

Anger, 61, 19 

Anthony, K., 52 

Approval, want to show, 39f 

want to receive, 40f 
Army intelligence test, 179ff, 219 
Associative shifting, 79f, 81, 131f, 

131, 146 
Astigmatism, 211 
Attention, concentration of, 96f 

involuntary, 9, 95 

problem of getting, 95ff 

relation of, to interest, 97f 

spontaneous, 10, 95 

voluntary, 9, 95 
Attitude, 50f, 59ff, 117 

affects speed and accuracy, 50f, 
62f 

problem, 61, 120 

relation to learning, 59ff 

self-attentive, 59f 

suggestible, 60 
Average, 145, 229 

Average deviation, 135ff, 145ff, 
148ff, 186, 229 
method of obtaining, 138ff 
use of, as a measure of indi- 
vidual differences, 145ff, 
186, 229 
Axon, 232f 



B and BX test, 52ff, 15 Iff 
Bagley, W. C, 123, 141 
Baker, R. S., 48 
Bashfulness, 50f 

Behavior, 11, 13, 16ff, 20ff, 26, 27, 
127, 2 

analysis of, 17ff, 23f, 37f 

components of, 16ff, 20ff, 24ff, 
127 

psychology, as the science of, 3, 
llf 
Belief, 7f, 85 
Biandenburg, G. C, 187 
Binet-Simon test, 217, 219 
Bond, 21ff, 26f, 36ff, 127f, 191 

definition of, 26 

factors affecting strength, lOOff 

learned or unlearned, 127f 

mechanism of, 231ff 
Book, W. F., 69, 131 
Boring, E. G., 178 
Brinton, W. C., 40 
Bryan, W. L., 69 

Cannon, W. B., 25 

Cattell, J. McK., 177, 54 

Cerebellum, 238 

Cerebrum, 238f 

Classification of children in school, 

231f 
Coefficient of correlation, 135, 206ff, 
230 
definition of, 209f 
method of obtaining, 207ff 
use of, 214ff 
Collect, want to, 21f 
Color-bHndness, 157f, 21 If 
Combinations, 172 
Compensation, 213, 227f 
Complex, 6 

Components of behavior, see Be- 
havior. 
247 



248 



INDEX 



Conception, general, 123ff, 189 
Conditioned reflex, 76 
Conduct, evaluation of, 5 
Conduction, characteristic of proto- 
plasm, 15f, 233 

mechanism of, 231ff 
Confidence, 49 
Consciousness, llf, 23f, 16, 194, 

241 
Construction-workmanship, 47 
Contrast, effect upon learning, 102f 
Control group, 169 
Correlation, see Coefficient of. 

between human traits, 213ff, 227 
Cortical level of nerve action, 194f 
Courtis arithmetic test, 185f 
Courtis, S. A., 185, 232 
Courtis standard practice test, 232f 
Cretinism, 182ff 
Crile, G. W., 184 
Criterion, 217 
Curiosity, 18 

Danger, want to escape from, 23flf 

Defective vision, 210ff 

de Fursac, J. R., 7 

Dementia praecox, 7 

Dendrite, 232f 

Denny, C. C, 146 

Determination, 41f 

Dewey, J., 12, 98 

Difficulties, how solved, 70f, 72ff 

Disapproval, want to show, 39f 

want to escape, 40f 
Discipline, doctrine of, 98 
Disobedience, 44 
Display, 44fif 

Dissatisfaction, 103f, 105, 5f, 19f, 
33f 

relation of, to reasoning, 73fif 
Distance, how estimated, 215ff, 

227ff 
Distraction, 105 
Drill, definition of, 146f, 151f 

essential for good thinking, 157 

essentials of good drill, 146ff, 
151ff 

examples of, 14, 55 



Drill, guiding principles underlying 
drill, 158flf 

memorization and drill, proper 
conception of, 165f 

performances that should be 
drilled, 107, 152f 

speed or accuracy to be em- 
phasized, 162ff 

Eat, want to, 20 
Ebbinghaus, H., 91, 97 
Educational tests, 217, 221f, 230 
B and BX, 52ff, 151f 
Courtis arithmetic, 185f 
Courtis standard practice, 

232ff 
Kansas silent reading, 146ff, 

179f, 184f, 221 
Thorndike handwriting scale, 
222f 
Effect, law of, 103f, 105 
Effort, 41f, 96 
Elation, 41f 
Emotion, 61, 103 

apprehended by others, 37f 
attached to new stimuli, 28 
nature of, 25ff 

relation of, to instinct, 26f, 33 
want to experience, 27f, 37 
Employment management, 227 
Energy, stirred-up, 7f, 27f 
Environment, as cause of individual 
differences, 22, 157ff, 182ff, 
226 
relation of, to want, stimulus 
' and response, llf 
Esprit de corps, 123 
Exhaustion, see Fatigue. 
Experiments, how to write up, 30ff; 
how to plot curves, 30f, 
39f, 43; use of tables of 
statistics and curves, 140f 
causes of behavior, 13ff 
coefficient of correlation, how 

calculated, 206ff 
difficulties, how solved, 70f 
distance, how estimated, 216ff, 
227fiE 



INDEX 



249 



Experiment, drill, some of the 
essentials, 146ff 
grading students, 188fif 
individual differences, general 
laws as to, 170ff 
in calculating simple arith- 
metical combinations, 151ff 
in learning mirror-drawing, 
140ff 
influencing another, sequence, 
material should be pre- 
sented, 129 
through imitation, 92f 
through motivation, llOff 
learning, alphabet, 29ff 

factors affecting strength of 

bond, 99 
mirror-drawing, 4 Iff, 56f 
vocabulary, 70ff 
memory, how to remember, 

108ff 
memory-span, 85ff 
retention, alphabet, 84 

vocabulary, 85 
sense-organs, mechanism of, 

196ff 
transfer of training, 167ff 
wants, native and acquired, 69 
Eye, 205fif 

accomodation, convergence, di- 
vergence, 209 
color-blindness, 21 If 
defective vision, 210f 
nature of light stimulus, 207ff 
structure of, 205f 

Fatigue, exhaustion, 224f 

nature of, 22 If 

rest periods, relation to, 8^ 
222fif 
Fear, 61, 23f ; acquisition of, 24f 
Feeling, relation of learning to, 61ff 
Fighting, 31f, modification of, 58ff 
Filial love, 36 
Fiske, B. A., 84 
Fissure of Rolando, 240f 

of Sylvius, 240f 
Flight of ideas, 7 



Forgetting, 128; see Retention. 

Formal discipline, 171ff 

Franz, S. I., 243 

Freeman, F. N., 223 

Freud, S., 128 

Fusion, see Integration. 

Garrison, S. C, 215 

Gates, A. I., 88 

Generalization, 184ff 

Goitre, 182 

Goldmark, J., 222 

Gordon, K., 78 

Grades for scholarship, 188ff, 191ff 
how to grade papers, 202 
how to record grades, 203ff 
systems of grading students, 
191ff 

Gregarious instinct, 36ff 

Gross, H., 90 

Habits, see Learning. 

dependent upon kinaesthetic 
stimuli, 203f 

general, 123ff 

hierarchy of, 131flf 

language, 244 

motor, 203 

physiological mechanism of, 93, 
234 

"tools," 152fif 
Hadley, A. T., 180 
Hallucination, 140ff 
Hart, B., 6, 61 
Harter, N., 69 
Hate, 61 

Hawkins, N. A., 46 
Heck, W. H., 172, 223 
Heredity, cause of individual differ- 
ences, 157ff, 182ff, 226 

relation of, to want, stimulus 
and response, llf 
Hierarchy of habits, 131fif 
Hollingworth, H. L., 107, 119, 38 
Holmgren Test, 157f 
Howell, W. H., 184, 211 
Hugh, D. D., 171 
"Hunch," 77f 



250 INDEX 



Hunt, want to, 20f 
Hyde, B. E., 202f 
Hyperopia, 210f 

Ideals, development of, 123ff 
Identical elements, theory of, 

172fE 
Ideo-motor action, relation of, to 
imitation, 103f 
extent to which one learns 
through, 107ff 
Illusion, 140 
Images, 136 
Imitation, 19, 38, 92f 

extent to which one learns 

through, 92f, 104ff 
relation to ideo-motor action, 

103f 
relation to suggestion, 103f 
Incoherent speech, 7 
Individual differences, 135ff, 140ff, 
143ff, 151ff, 157ff, 170ff, 
173ff, 188ff, 191ff, 217ff, 
226ff 
application to educational 
problems, 136f, 143f, 147, 
164, 168f, 187, 191ff, 205, 
230ff 
basis from which to measure, 

194, 228f, 230 
causes of, 157ff, 182ff, 226 
general law as to how indi- 
viduals differ, 170ff, 226f 
in arithmetical work, 151ff, 

154ff, 167ff 
in EngHsh, 146ff, 184ff 
in initial and final ability in 

learning, 150, 206ff 
in intelligence, 179ff 
in learning arithmetical work, 
155ff, 167ff ; mirror drawing, 
140ff, 144ff 
measured by A.D., 135ff, 
145ff, 148ff, 186, 229 
Influencing another, methods of, 

99ff 
Inhibtion, see Interference, 
relation to thinking, 19f 



Inhibtion, possible function of a 

neurone, 233 
Initiative, development of, 127f 
Instinct, see Want. 

defined, 127f, 17 
Integration, 132, 131fif, 144f 
Intelligence quotient (IQ), 218, 
228 
tests, 215, 217ff, 230, 231 
Army alpha, 179ff, 219 
Binet-Simon, 217, 219 
Stanford revision of Binet, 

217f 
use of, for college entrance, 

219 
Yerkes-Bridges point scale, 
215 
Interest, accompanies a want, 8f, 33 
analysis of, 224 
nature of, 97f 

problems of, in school-room, 98 
relation of, to curiosity, 97f 
relation of, spontaneous atten- 
tion, 10, 97f 
Interference, see Inhibition, 54f, 

104f, 128f, 160f, 177ff 
Intermediate level of nerve action, 

193fif, 236f 
Irritability, see Sensitivity. 

James, W., 28, 107 
Jastrow, J., 209 
Jealous}^, 32 
Judd, C. H., 155, 182ff 
Jury system of grading, 192 

Kansas silent reading test, 146ff, 

179f, 184f, 221 
Kelley, T. L., 216 
"Known to unknown," 106, 142f 

Ladd, G. T., 69, 89, 141, 206, 233, 
241ff 

Language, physiological basis of, 234 
Learning, application to educational 

problems, children vs. 

adults, 81 
curve, characteristics of,_33ff, 

129 



1 



INDEX 



251 



Learning, fluctuations in, 34f, 129, 
145 
physiological limit, 48 51f 129 
plateau, 47f, 51, 129 
examples of, 10, 46, 50, 53f, 

160, 162, 164ff, 169, 234 
how to plot a curve, 30f, 39, 44 
amount vs. time, 159f 
use of, in teaching, 48ff 
definition of, 128, 133 
distributed vs. concentrated, 

118 
drill, 146ff, 151ff 
effect of attitude upon, 59ff, 62f ^ 
of desire for approval, 40 
of differences in heredity 

upon, 162f, 167ff 
of method upon, 59, 62f 
of position upon, 14, 82f 
of previous training Jupon, 
16lf, 163ff, 167if 
formation of new bonds, 129ff 
stimulus substitution, 74ff, 

81, 131 
trial-and-error, 64f, 81, 129ff 
habits or memories, 94 
ideo-motor action, 107£f 
imitation, 92f, 104ff 
laws of, 129 
motive for, 119f, 40 
planned or accidental, 63ff 
reasoning, relation to, 86ff 
relearning, 94f 

reorganization of bonds, 81, 
105ff, 131f, 131, 146 
associative shifting, 79f, 81, 

131f 
integration, 132, 131 
short-circuiting, 132 
saving method, 97 
strength of bond, 99, lOlff, 133 
effect of satisfaction and dis- 
satisfaction, 103f 
intensity of stimulus, lOlff 
interference, 54f, 104f, 128f 
lapse of time, 84ff, 104 
repetition, 73ff, 101, 115, 117, 
131 



Learning, transfer of training, 167ff 
ITlff 
warming-up, 95 

whole vs. sectional method, 118 
Lesson, object of, 16f, 22 
Levels of nerve action, 193fif, 234ff 
Localization of brain functions, 
240ff 

Maggiora, 222 

McDougall, W., 18, 26, 31, 34f, 37, 

47flf, 61, 64ff 
McGahey, M. L., 52 

Meaning, 77 

Median, 229 

Memory, see Retention, 
incidental, 119 

Memory-span, 85ff, 96 

Mental age, 218 

Method, relation to learning, 59, 62f 

Meyer, M., 193 

Midbrain level, 193ff, 236f 

Mirror-drawing experiment, 41ff, 
45ff, 56f, 59ff 

Missouri system of grading, 193ff 

Mnemonic devices, 81f 

Mode, 229 

Monotony, guard against, 161f 

Moral indignation, 60f 

Moron, 176 

Motivation, 103, llOff, 115fif 

development of a sentiment, 115f 
evaluation of, in terms of needs, 

120f 
nature of, 115ff 
role of, in school, 121flf 
socially useful or dangerous 
tool, 117fif 

Motive, 119f, 1, 55, 57 

Movement, 15f 

Muscle, action of biceps, 219f 

action of nevous current upon, 

220f 
mechanism by which responses 
are made, 219flf 

Myers, C. E., 103 

Myers, G. C, 118, 103 

Myopia, 201f 



252 



INDEX 



Needs, distinguished from wants, 3flF 
ethical basis for influencing 
another, 120f 
Nerve-cell, see Neurone. 
Nervous system, accessory system 
244f 
association centers, 243f 
cerebellum, 238 
cerebrum, 238ff 
fundamental system, 244f 
mid-brain, 236f, 239 
motor area of, 242f 
sensory area of, 241f 
Neurone, 195 

description of, 231fif 
motor, 235 
sensory, 235 
Nonsense syllable, 97 
Norm, 146f, 155f, 228 
Normal curve of distribution, 135, 
171f, 173ff, 176, 195fT 
applied to grading scholar- 
ship, 195ff, 200ff 
surface of distribution, 171f, 
173ff 
Notice, want to receive, 37 
Novelty, 106f, 18 

O'Brien, J. Q., 51, 163 

Overflow of energy, 67, 236 
Overlapping of distributions, 184ff 

Pain, want of freedom from, 22 
Paralysis, 242f 
Parental instinct, 34ff 

modification of, 60f 
Partial identity, law of, 80, 74 
Pawlon, J. P., 76 
Perception, an integration, 131, 134ff 

compared with sensation, 201ff, 
215f 

faulty, 136ff 

imagery, relation to, 136 

space, 215ff, 227ff 
Permutations, 172 
Phrenology, 38 

Physiological aspects of psychology, 
191flf 

limit, 48, 51f, 129 



Pillsbury, W. B., 50, 85, 240 

Plateau, 47f, 51, 129 
Play, 51f 

Poffenberger, A. T., 175ff, 234 
Pointy for quality, 199 
Possess, want to, 21f 
Praise, effect of, 104, 39ff 
Pride, 64f 

Prompting method, 83 
Proof, 85f 

Propaganda, 110, 120 
Protoplasm, fundamental character- 
istics of, 15f 
Psychological tests, see Tests, 
Psychology, definition of, 3, llf 

scope of. Iff, 11 
Puffer, J. A., 68 

Readiness, principle of, 5f, 19f 
Reading, 13ff, 147, 244 
Ream, M. J., 224 
Reasoning, 68, 73fif 
cause of, 73ff 
difference in, of adults and 

children, 89f 
difficulties, how solved, 70f 

why they arise, 12, 73ff 
drill, necessity of, for good 

reasoning, 157 
ideas, role of, in, 88f 
inhibition involved in, 20 
•levels of, 75f, 79ff 
relation of, to trial and error 
learning, 86flf 
to want, stimulus, and re- 
sponse, 12 
stages of, 75ff 
acceptance, 85f 
dissatisfaction, 79 
finding a solution, 79ff 
satisfaction, 85 
trying out solution, 84f 
wants, distinguished from rea- 
sons, 15 
Recall memory, 14ff, 21, 92, 97, 

114ff 
Recognition memory, 14ff, 21, 92, 
97, 114ff 



INDEX 



253 



Reduction ad absurdum, 159f 
Reflex action, distinguished from 
instinct, 127f, 17 
illustrated, 192fif, 235f 
Reinforcement, 233 
Reorganization, 81, 105ff, 13 If 
Resist interference, want to, 31f 
Response, 17ff, 22ff, 35, 75f, 113f, 

191, 219ff, 225f 
Retention, 85ff, 89ff 

amount of practise, effect upon, 

90 
curve of forgetting, 92 
how to memorize, 117ff 
how to secure efficient reproduc- 
tion, 120ff, 143f, 159f 
memorizing a vocabulary, 77f, 

Slff 
memory-span, 85ff, 96 
methods employed in studying, 
97 
learning and saving, 97 
prompting, 83, 118 
recognition, 97 
mnemonic devices, 8 If 
motor habits, 92 
over-learning, 92 
physiological basis for, 93f, 234, 

236 
primary and secondary, 95f 
recall memory, see Recall mem- 
ory, 
recognition memory, see Recog- 
nition memory, 
relearning, 94f 
reproduction, 108, 115 
rote memory, 74ff 
threshold of recall, 114 
time interval, effect upon, 89ff 
"training" the memory, 116f 
warming-up, 95 
Retina, 206f 
Review, effect of, 117 
Rivalry, 46f 

Rivers, W. H. R., 23, 27, 36 
Rosanoff, A. J., 7 
Ruger, H. A., 59f, 69, 82, 172 
Rugg, H. O., 229 



Sagacity, 83 

Satisfaction, 103f, 105, 2, 5f 

relation of, to reasoning, 73ff 
Scatter diagram, 220 
Scientific management, 9 
Seashore, G. E., 223 
Self-assertion, want (desire) for 
aggressive type, 42f 

defensive type, 41f 

leadership, 43fif 
Self-attentive attitude, 59f, 40 
Self-respect, 65ff 
Seligman, E. R. A., 2 
Selvidge, R. S., 163f 
Sensation, cutaneous, 196f 

definition of, 196 

fusion of visual and tactual, 212, 
243 

kina^sthetic, 198f 

organic, gustatory, olfactory, 
auditory, static, 212f 

simple and compound, 200ff, 
215 

visual, 207ff 
Sense-organs, 196 

cutaneous, 199f 

kinaesthetic, 198f 

organic, gustatory, olfactory, 
auditory, static, 212f 

visual, 205ff 
Sensitivity (irritability), 15f, 233 
Sentiment, definition of, 61f 

development of, 115 

self-regarding, 64fif 
Sequence, material should be pre- 
sented, 129, 131, 142ff 
Sex instinct, 6, 32fif 
Shand, 61 

Short-circuiting, 132, 131f 
Sight-spelling lesson, 13, 20ff 
Situation, 17ff, 22ff, 35, 75f, 113f, 
160, 191, 204 

complex, 5, 23f 

distinguished from stimulus, 26 
Skill, 154ff 
Spelling, 13ff 

Spinal level of nerve action, 133ff, 
235f 



254 



INDEX 



Starch, D., 69, 214 

Statistical methods, 135, 145ff, 148ff, 

229f 
Stereoscope, 216f, 227 
Stiles, C. W., 87 

Stimulus, see Situation and Sensa- 
tion, 
combined in formula with Want 

and Response, 8ff 
definition of, 26, 204 
intensity of, 10 Iff 
substitution, 74ff, 81, 24f, 28 
summation of stimuli, 80, 131 
Stratton, G. W., 212 
Strong, E. K. Jr., 19, 52, 91, 115, 

215, 112, 117ff 
Strong, M. H., 115 
Sublimation, 119 
Submission, want for, 48ff 
Suggestion, lOOff 

counter-suggestion, 102 
relation of, to submission and 

self-assertion, 102 
to imitation, 103f 
Suggestible attitude, 60, 40 
Summation of stimuli, 80 
Surface of distribution, 171f, 173ff, 

229 
Synapse, 233f 

Tansley, A. G., 28, 33 
Tarkington, B., 2 
Teaching, definition of, 133f 
Terman, L. M., 217 
Tests, psychological, 217ff, 230 

educational, see Educational 

tests. 
intelligence, see Intelligence 

tests, 
trade, 217, 221f, 230 
vocational guidance, 217, 223f 
Thayer, W. R., 51 
Thinking, see Reasoning. 
Thorndike, E. L., 69, 103, 175, 214, 
223, 229, 20ff, 31, 37, 39, 
42, 48fif, 84, 96, 108, 158, 
162, 171ff, 224 
Thurston, L. L., 219 



Thyroid gland, 182ff 
Titchener, E. B., 216f 
Trade tests, 217, 22 If, 230 
Training, cause of individual differ- 
ences, 157ff, 182ff 
relation of, to Want, Stimulus 
and Response, 11 
Transfer of training, 68, 167ff, 171ff 
experimental results, 173ff 
how to teach so as to secure 
transfer, 182ff 
Trial-and-error learning, 64ff, 81, 

129ff, 19, 86ff 
Tri-trix puzzle, 130, 187 

Veblen, T. B., 45 

Visual exploration, 18 

Vocabulary, learning of, 70ff, 73ff, 

85 
Vocational guidance, 216, 230 
tests of, 217, 223ff 

Wanderlust, 6 

Want, accompanied by interest, 8f, 
29f 

acquired, 54ff 

a tendency to respond, 6f 

based upon fundamental char- 
acteristics of protoplasm, 
15ff 

basis of influencing another, 
99ff, 142 

compulsive nature of, not com- 
prehended, 33 

definition of, 3, 17 

dissatisfaction, relation to, 5f 

formula — Want, Stimulus, Re- 
sponse, 8ff 

fundamental to behavior, 2 

intensity of, fluctuates, 4f 

must be controlled; 2 

native, individual, 15ff 
social, 31ff 

needs, distinguished from, 3ff 

non-satisfaction of, cause of 
reasoning, 73ff 

reasons, distinguished from, 15 



INDEX 



255 



Want, redirection of, 57ff, 119 

represents stored-up energy, 
7f 
Watch others, want to, 37 
Watson, J. B., 103, 23, 26, 28, 31f 
Wells, F. L., 167 
Whipple, G. M., 69, 211 
Williams, W., 44 
Wolf, R. B., 51 



Woodworth, R. S., 69, 26, 36, 41, 
89, 128, 141, 167, 206, 
233, 241ff 

Worry, 20 

Writing, 13ff, 244 

Yerkes, R. M., 215 
Yoakum, C. S., 224 
Youmans, E. L., 180 



sM^^lC* 



/ 



